Parkes, a quiet country town 350 km west of Sydney, is about to be inundated with more than 18,000 Elvis Presley fans.

Hundreds of fans climbed aboard the Elvis Express at Central Station in Sydney for the six-hour trek to Parkes.

Among their number were Elvis impersonators, or Elvis Tribute Acts as they prefer to be known, of all shapes and sizes.

A couple dance to the sounds of Elvis before boarding the train to the annual Parkes Elvis Festival ( 702 ABC Sydney: John Donegan )

Wearing outfits with names like the Aloha Suit, the Nail Suit, the White Pearl, and the Black Karate Two Piece, the impersonators were mobbed by female fans, many wearing 1950s dresses.

John Collins, wearing a Black Owl jumpsuit made famous by The King, was boarding the train for his eighth visit to the festival.

"Once you get a taste of it, you've just got to keep going back," Mr Collins told 702 ABC Sydney.

Mr Collins has been performing his Elvis Tribute Act for 23 years, and describes the train journey as insane.

"Everyone's all dressed up, everyone's ready to party and they all dance in all the carriages," he said.

With $50,000 worth of jumpsuits in his repertoire, Mr Collins takes dressing up to an all new level.

This year would have been Elvis Presley's 80th birthday, and celebrations in Parkes will be themed around the 1964 movie Roustabout, in which Elvis plays an itinerant carnival worker.

Despite the theme being based on a young, leather-clad Elvis, most impersonators choose the Las Vegas-era look of the older Elvis.

From local restaurant event to world-renowned festival

An Elvis Presley impersonator arrives at Central Station, Sydney ( 702 ABC Sydney: John Donegan )

Parkes Champion Post editor Roel ten Cate has been involved since the early days.

He was one of the small group that turned an event at a local restaurant into the world-renowned festival it is today.

"The very first year a couple of well-known residents that ran the Gracelands restaurant put on a bit of a night for Elvis' birthday as an attraction for the restaurant," he said.

Women dressed in 50s outfits pose for photos before boarding the train to the annual Parkes Elvis Festival ( 702 ABC Sydney: John Donegan )

"The second year, it went further with look-a-likes, and then after a few years there were starting to be a lot of people that came from around the Central West to attend."

For the last 23 years, Mr ten Cate has not only covered the festival for his paper, but also encouraged the community and officials to get behind it.

"I am enormously proud of what we have here now," he said.

"We have people from all over the world that come to Parkes just for this festival."

Would The King have enjoyed the fuss?

"If he's looking down now, I think he'd be saying he's pretty proud of our little effort," Mr ten Cate said.

"I think he'd say we do a pretty good job celebrating him and most of all that we are having a lot of fun with my music.

"I think he'd be pretty happy."