The Parkes Elvis Festival date for next year is moving from January to 10 – 14 March!
The final decision to proceed or to cancel will still be made by 28th September with the festival team continuing to monitor the situation with the safety and well-being of the community, artists, fans, staff and businesses first and foremost.
In the announcement made on Wednesday, Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith said: “The date change will give us seven months until the start of the festival. We are hopeful that it will be able to proceed however the health and safety of the community will come first in the final decision of the festival proceeding.”
Festival Director Cathy Treasure said: “We chose to announce the date change now to allow our stakeholders to make alternate plans for January, to allow us time to reschedule artists and all the support services. We would love the festival to proceed but are being cautiously optimistic.”
The festival team have contacted the accommodation providers in the Parkes Shire and Forbes and have been assured that all January 2021 bookings will be carried over to the new dates in March or alternatively to the 2022 festival.
“There is no need to make contact now. The accommodation providers have reserved the March dates for existing bookings and will be in contact once the final decision on the festival proceeding has been made at the end of September,” Cathy said.
Chamber of Commerce President Geoff Rice said the chamber and business community supported the change of date. “Many businesses rely on the festival to get them through the off-peak summer period and this is especially relevant for 2021 after the challenges in business due to bushfires and drought.”
The ticket launch date will be moved to 16 November in line with the new festival dates.