North Carolina Town Pays Tribute To Elvis

Elvis Presley has had a weird, peripheral intrusion into my adult life.  It started with my wife's late aunt who was obsessed.  She once got in trouble for skipping school just to watch Elvis' bus go by on his way to enlist in the army.  Then there's the legendary story of her two cousins getting in a fight at an Elvis show in Las Vegas over a scarf the king had thrown into the crowd.  In recent years I've gotten to be good friends with one of the most in-demand Elvis impersonators based out of Myrtle Beach.  So, when I see that there's an Elvis tribute festival coming to Lexington, North Carolina, I'm more than intrigued.

I know, right?  I asked the same thing.  It seems kind of random.  For starters it can all be traced back to 1956 when a young Elvis Presley came to Lexington's packed-out YMCA gymnasium.  5,000 people shake, rattled, and rolled the night away.  Then, according to the NC Tribute to the King website, fast-forward 60 years and Lexington played host to the sold-out performance of the King's Broadway-style tour "Elvis '56". The community embraced the comeback show and wanted more. Then in 2019, the Lexington Tourism Authority brought the "Elvis Back in Lexington" performance to the Edward C. Smith Civic Center.

Following the success of that event, folks in and around the town would often inquire when Lexington would be doing another show.  After checking out a similar festival in another state, the city authority's in Lexington said, "Why not us?"  And in 2022, the "North Carolina Tribute Festival To The KING" came to fruition.

This year's 3rd Annual Tribute to the King is a 2-part, 3-day event (April 26-28) that will have Elvis daytime competitions, headliner shows featuring some of the top Elvis performers in the nation plus exclusive parties and more!  General Admission tickets range from $40-$60 and are available here.

I've always said the most fun I've ever had at any fair or festival was the first time I attended the "Woolly Worm Festival" in Banner Elk.

Literally, you have people drinking, eating, and gambling at the speed of a fuzzy worm (see above pic) racing up a string.  Just thinking about it now, I start laughing.  Totally, preposterous fun.  However, Banner Elk's pride and joy are just the tip of the crazy festival iceberg.

Come to Nederland, Colorado, for this event featuring coffin races, costumed polar plunges, icy turkey bowling, and even a frozen T-shirt contest!  Sounds like fun, but also sounds REAL cold (not my jam).  Still too cold in March in Colorado for me.

Grab up all your kin folk and head to Pikeville, Kentucky for this celebration of Appalachian culture.  Featured events include:  a cornhole tournament, quilt show, hillbilly music, food and local crafts.

Ever wonder who makes-and where-Duct Tape?  The answer is Shurtape Technologies in Avon, Ohio (suburb of Cleveland).   Each June the locals pay homage to their hometown product that none of us can live without.

EASILY, my favorite name for a festival, this takes place in Crystal Falls, Michigan.  People come from all over the world to pay homage to the world’s largest, oldest living organism, a 200,000-pound shoestring mushroom occupying 38 acres of land and dating back anywhere from 1,500 to 10,000 years.  Food, fun, and falderal abounds.

What better way to honor the bovine that drive the Wisconsin dairy industry than with a party set around cow chips.  There's a cow chip parade and or course the spectacle of watching competitors vie for the state's cow chip toss record-live from Prairie du Sac.

Lest you think cow chips are the only things that can be flung at a festival.  Welcome to Lowville, New York and September's Cream Cheese Festival.  In addition to the "Flinging Cream Cheese Toss," you can paint murals with the spread, participate in an all-you-can-eat contest and even take a bite from the world's largest cheesecake.

Coarsegold, California is where you'll find this celebration of arachnid-inspired poems, music, crafts, and events.  Some of which include a hairy legs contest, a tarantula hat dance, and a tarantula derby.  And since Halloween is right around the corner on the calendar, the festival also features trick-or-treating and pumpkin decorating

And since we opened this by mentioning the Tar Heel State's contribution to this list, if you've never seen a woolly worm race, here ya go.  And make plans to head up to Banner Elk in the fall.  You won't regret it for a second!