magazine / ja10
 July/August 2010 issue
 Last year’s Elvis Festival saw more than 10,000 people crowd into Collingwood, Ontario, to meet, greet, and even kiss Mr. Presley, and of course, to see him perform. Many fans make the journey up from the U.S.
Photo: Henrieta Haniskova
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Spot the King among the crowd in an expanded photo essay on the Collingwood Elvis festival.
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Watch an Elvis tribute artist perform at Collingwood’s Elvis Festival.
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Discover more videos, interactive features and photo essays about the Canada-U.S. border.
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Defining the Canada-U.S. Border
On the frontier between Canada and the United States, weed whackers and wile keep the boundary clear and quiet. Read more »
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Smuggler’s Inn
At Smuggler’s Inn, guests are encouraged to watch cross-border smuggling from the comfort of their rooms. Read more »
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First Nations’ Border Struggles
In a land with no lines, how do you define the end of one territory and the beginning of another? Read more »
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Lynx: The Cross-border Cat
Lynx don’t care about the line between Ontario and Minnesota, and researchers on both sides are starting to pay attention. Read more »
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Stanstead on the Borderline
Boosting security in the border town of Stanstead, Quebec, divides a peaceful community.
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Ontario’s Elvis Festival
The King comes to Collingwood in a cross-border cultural exchange. Read more »
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Multimedia
Discover more videos, interactive features and photo essays about the Canada-U.S. border.
View now »
Ontario’s Elvis Festival
Fans of the King gather in Collingwood every July for a cross-border cultural exchange.
Photography By Henrieta Haniskova
One weekend every July, in a town on Georgian Bay, Ont.,
Elvis is everywhere. He’s in the Pizza Hut, the arena,
the retirement home. Young and not so young, he (and
sometimes she) sports tough-guy leather or a white jacket or
the classic jumpsuit covered in glitter. Groups of Elvises gather
in parking lots, discussing the finer points of tailored
gabardine and hair gel.
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Spot the King among the crowd in a photo essay on the Elvis Festival.
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Welcome to the Collingwood Elvis Festival, where tens of
thousands of fans gather to cheer about 120 Elvis Tribute Artists,
known as ETAs, while Toronto-based photographer Henrieta
Haniskova records the adoration. As a child in Czechoslovakia, she
says, “I didn’t grow up with Elvis. I had no idea an Elvis Festival
even existed. Now, I love photographing these guys.”
| Anybody can be an Elvis impersonator; all you’ve got to do is say, ‘Thankyuhveramuch.’ |
Haniskova’s photos are a tribute to the tribute artist, a glimpse
into the intensity of the craft and the equally intense fan response.
“Anybody can be an Elvis impersonator, all you’ve got to do is say,
‘Thankyuhveramuch,’” snorts Thor Bonfig, alias King Thor, of
Elliot Lake, Ont. But tribute artists are meticulous. They know the
real Elvis Presley “never wore sequins. If you get into a competition
where you’re wearing sequins, you’re going to get marked down.”
Field Report: Interview: Henrieta Haniskova
On a weekend trip to Collingwood, Ont., photographer Henrieta Haniskova was “sucked into a rabbit hole of jumpsuits and sideburns” at the largest annual Elvis Festival outside of Memphis.
View a photo gallery from the shoot and get tips on fashion photography.
Related content and resources:
Photo Club
View Henrietta Haniskova’s fashion photos from Collingwood’s Elvis Festival and read a
one-on-one interview with the photographer.
Drawing the Border
Read about how it took almost a century of negotiation and compromise to establish the world’s longest undefended border.
Border Technology
Discover high-tech security on the border as a globetrotting adventurer takes a hike with his family through Waterton Lakes National Park into the U.S.
| Comments on this article | Leave a comment | Jake's account of the Smuggler's Inn was very accurate except for the overweight comment. Hope everyone will come visit.
Motley.
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