How Much Do You Know about the Elvis Festival!

Historical Facts:

• Festival began in 1995 with only 35 Tribute Artists in the Ballroom at the Vacation Inn (now the Georgian Manor Resort) and was the brainchild of an actual Tribute Artist
• Was first recognized as the Canadian National Elvis Tribute & Convention and operated unsanctioned and unlicensed
• Event became licensed with Elvis Presley Enterprises in 1996 and has continued as a licensed event ever since
• Event became the Collingwood Elvis Festival, an incorporated company, in 1997 and was managed by a Volunteer Management Board with it’s owners being the Downtown B.I.A. & the local Chamber of Commerce
• Town of Collingwood took over ownership of the event in 2003 making the Collingwood Elvis Festival a true “municipal” event
• The Festival has grown to include over 130 Tribute Artists each year and has individual events operating throughout the Town of Collingwood and surrounding area
• Collingwood Elvis Festival is internationally recognized as the “largest Elvis Festival in the World” and the benchmark by which all other Elvis Festivals operate
• The Festival was recognized as one of the two originally selected Preliminary locations for the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest in Memphis, TN.

Noteworthy Achievements:

• Named one of the “Top 50/100 Festivals in Ontario” from 2001 to 2010
• selected from among over 3,000 Festivals throughout the province
• Has won many Awards including Best Poster, Best Printed Program, Best Overall Promotional Campaign, Best Newspaper Insert and Best Printed Program.
• In 2008, Festival received an Achievement Award for the Best Virtual Campaign (Website) at the Festival & Events Ontario Achievement Awards.
• Celebrating our Fifteenth (15th) Anniversary in 2009, the Festival historically expanded to a four day event format back in 2004, our 10th Anniversary year.
• Received a Special Merit Award in 2001 & 2004 from the Collingwood Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards
• Received Nominations for Employee of the Year and Best Customer Service at the Collingwood Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards in 2002 and 2003
• Received a Special Recognition from the Ontario Government for our Special Merit Award in 2004 from the Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards
• Received the Reader’s Choice Award in 2005 to 2008 for “Favourite Community Event”
• In 2006, the Festival received in excess of 8,000,000 media impressions through their extensive marketing campaign
• Received a T.E.M.P.P. Marketing grant for 3 consecutive years from 2006 to 2008 from Tourism Ontario.
• Among the select few to receive a Celebrate Ontario grant in 2007 through 2009 from the Ministry of Tourism for the Province of Ontario. Funds are used to make improvements to Town facilities. Among those improvements were a new Arena floor for events, additional permanent power upgrades to Pine Street and newly installed permanent power to the Ste. Marie Street parking lot.

Festival Management Structure:

• Managed by a Municipal Services Board established in 2003 now with eight (8) voting members representing the Town of Collingwood – 3 votes; Downtown B.I.A. – 2 votes; and three appointed Community Representative votes.
• Staff includes a full-time Festival General Manager, several contract employees & one (1) volunteer office staff.
• Operates with the support of approximately 100 volunteers & 60 paid casual weekend staff annually
• More than twenty (20) portfolio positions available encompassing all facets of the festival operations
• Report annually to the Members of the Town Council for approvals to proceed
• Governed under an annual License Agreement with Elvis Presley Enterprises in order to use the imaging and name of Elvis Presley

Financial Information:

• Festival operating budget - $556,500 in 2009; $638,000 in 2008; $626,000 in 2007; $565,000 in 2006; $412,000 in 2005; $385,000 in 2004; and $305,000 in 2003.
• Local spending represents approximately ½ the annual budget between 2006-2008.
• In excess of $1,000,000 was invested back into the local community through local spending between 2005 and 2008. This does not include visitor dollars spent in local retailers and accommodations. Over $457,000 was spent in Marketing between 2005-2008 for the Festival and the Town of Collingwood.
• It is estimated that several hundreds of thousands of dollars was raised by Service Clubs or Not-For-Profit organizations who partnered with the event between 2002 & 2008
• This is a multi-million dollar revenue generating event throughout Simcoe and Grey counties resulting from the four (4) day event. Only a small fraction of that revenue is realized by the Festival directly
• In excess of 60 jobs have been created in the Collingwood and surrounding areas including salaried, casual weekend and contract employment as a result of event.
• The Municipality continues to be a supporter through event sponsorship, however between 2003 to 2008, over $40,000.00 in rental fees were paid back into the Town of Collingwood coffers for use of Town facilities & services.

Future Goals & Objectives:

• To develop more event ideas, promotions and revenue sources in order to secure the future of the event in a competitive and expanding marketplace.
• To work co-operatively with other Elvis Festivals & Elvis Presley Enterprises in establishing and recognizing the Collingwood Elvis Festival as the “template” for the standard of operations in the Industry.
• To further develop our Festival website to include additional revenue generating opportunities through banner ads.
• To allow more accessibility to ticket sales through a Festival owned, operated & controlled ticketing program.
• To continue enhancing co-operative business relationships with the Ministry of Tourism and Elvis Presley Enterprises through marketing strategies, cross-border promotions and government funding initiatives.
• To make our event more community and environment friendly.
• To develop more events that will assist in promoting local talent, increased youth participation and an overall appreciation of the Arts through music.
• To investigate the possibility of utilizing some of our beautiful waterfront parks as event sites to introduce our area visitors to some of the natural beauty that surrounds Collingwood
• To develop unique partnership opportunities with our surrounding communities in order to expand, but not dilute, the Collingwood Elvis Festival by offering more events and options for attendees.
• To utilize the Festival popularity and visibility to better introduce and promote the Town of Collingwood internationally to potential investors and future residents.
• To make the Festival completely self-sustaining financially through sponsorship