Okay, if you are not an Elvis fan, you may not be aware of the fact that it is Elvis Week! Yes, only the King of Rock-n-Roll would be allowed not just a day, but a whole week for fans to celebrate his greatness. Being a native Memphian, I have to admit that I have been to several Elvis Week events in the past.
If you have never been to Graceland during Elvis Week, it is certainly an experience. First off, there are many people from around the world that converge on Memphis during this time. If you are wondering why Elvis Week occurs in August, it is because it was in August that Elvis died (August 16, 1977 to be exact). So each year, for the past 30 years, fans have gathered at Graceland to honor Elvis. There are all kinds of events held throughout the week. You can find galleries displaying Elvis paintings done by fans, there are usually happenings on Beale Street, and concerts. And I am not even talking about the scrapbooking classes, film festivals, dances, tours, dinners, and parties. They even have a Graceland scavenger hunt. And you can hardly spit without hitting an Elvis impersonator.
But, the real thing that caps off the whole week of celebration is the Candlelight Vigil. While most of the week is fun for the fans, the Candlelight Vigil is a more solemn event, held this year on Wednesday. Fans line up outside Graceland to file past the graves of Elvis, his mother Gladys, his father Vernon, and his grandmother. His twin brother who died at birth, Jesse Garon has a marker there, but I believe he was buried in Mississippi (where the family lived at the time of the births) and the whereabouts of that grave is unknown.
I went to the vigil back in the day (i.e. the 5-year anniversary of his death) and it was brutal. All the fans packed in front of the gates of Graceland and just stood that way in the stifling Memphis heat with no air circulating and no water. People passed out and had to be revived by EMTs. There were no candles given out by fans clubs like last time I went. You had either to bring your own candle or go without one. I remember one year, I forgot mine and as I was headed up the walkway, some nice Scandinavian looking guy gave me his candle (he was on his way down) and said something in a language I didn’t understand. But that is the cool thing about Elvis Week – even if you don’t speak another fan’s language, you still can still speak Elvisese.
Me and Elvis during Elvis Week!
Last time I went to the vigil (which has been several years ago), they had set up the velvet ropes like you see at the bank, so the fans were nicely spread out in the 90+ degree weather. They also had fans clubs at the end of each section serving free lemonade. It still took us a good 3 hours of standing in line before we made it to the graves. It is interesting to see all the flowers sent by fans and fan clubs all over the world. By the time we got through, our legs were numb, it was 3 am, but we had fun. Just writing about it makes me wish I could be there this week!