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Elvies 

© Ellie Ramsden

Every year, 40,000 Elvis impersonators and fans descend on a small seaside town in South Wales to celebrate the rock legend’s life and music. Powthcawl, a seemingly unlikely place to host the largest Elvis Presley festival in the world, gives a surreal backdrop to the weekend.

Organiser, Peter Phillips, started the Elvis festival two decades ago to raise money to save the local theatre, the Grand Pavilion. Just 500 people attended the event the first year - now, the whole town is taken over for the weekend. Every pub books Elvis impersonators, and revellers dress up in costumes. There's a Young Elvis competition, and a 'Hound Dog' prize for the best-dressed mutt.

The festival offers a weekend of escapism to our often serious and stressful realities. Become Elvis and let all your worries wash away!

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