In Pics: Legend lives on Down Under as Elvis Express departs

The Parkes Elvis Festival is an annual event celebrating the music and life of Elvis Presley in the New South Wales town of Parkes.

Sequin jumpsuits and Vegas showgirls outnumbered shirts and ties at Sydney’s Central station on Thursday as hundreds of Elvis fans boarded a train bound for a festival dedicated to The King.

The Parkes Elvis Festival is an annual event celebrating the music and life of Elvis Presley in the New South Wales town of Parkes. (AFP Photo)

Elvis fans wait at Central station to board a train to take them to The Parkes Elvis Festival from Sydney on January 12, 2017.

Peak hour travellers were serenaded by tribute acts performing on a stage erected on the platform, while poodle skirts twirled at one of the city’s busiest commuter hubs as fans danced away the wait for the 9.20am “Elvis Express” to Parkes in the Australian countryside.

A female Elvis fan boards a train from Sydney to attend The Parkes Elvis Festival, an annual event held to celebrate the music and life of Elvis Presley.

Elvis fans arrive at Central station to board a train to take them to The Parkes Elvis Festival.

Held in the small rural town of Parkes, about 350 kilometres (217 miles) west of Sydney, the festival began 25 years ago as a modest Elvis-themed birthday party and has since ballooned into a tourism boon for the area, with more than 120 events scheduled over the five days.

The festival last year attracted more than 20,000 people

“I don’t think that any Elvis fan can really tell you what it is about Elvis,” said impersonator Aaron Mansfield.

“It’s magic, it’s got this sort of... I don’t know man, you just can’t describe it.”

A fan strums Elvis melodies on his guitar as thousands throng the small rural town of Parkes to attend annual festival.

Fans await their turn to board the train to New South Wales town of Parkes.

The Elvis Parkes Festival runs from January 11 to 15.

Fans rejoice as the train carrying to the Parkes chugs off.