If you count yourself among the many fans of Elvis Presley, then Tampa was the place to be on May 22nd, 2004 as the 2nd Annual Elvis Festival was held in downtown Tampa. The City of Tampa Parks & Recreation Department sponsored the event, and the streets were closed off for the festival.

With his super cool giant juke box DJ trailer on hand, Ronnie Setser was in charge of hosting the Car & Truck Show portion of the event, which was open to all year, makes and models. Registrants received dash plaques and goody bags, and at 2pm there were Top Awards, Specialty trophies, a Best Display award and a five foot Best Of Show trophy.

Activities included the “Hound Dog Dash” 5K run at 8am, the “Shake Rattle & Roll Pet Stroll & Elvis Look-A-Like Contest” with various awards for pets at 10am, and the “Hunka Hunka Burning Love Vow Renewal & Brunch” at 1pm. Strolling along the streets attendees were also delighted to see many Elvis impersonators performing on several stages, and the ‘68 Comeback Concert was shown on a neat giant screen at the end of one of the streets. Elvis tribute artist Bill Akins not only performed throughout the day, but he also hosted karaoke on the stage, giving fans their chance to be “The King” for a song in front of the crowd.

Making it a fun-for-the-whole-family affair there was face painting (including lamb chop side burns), hula hoop and various other contests, and even a sock-hop. Of course there was also Elvis memorabilia on sale, vendors were offering delicious food items (including peanut butter and banana sandwiches), the downtown restaurants were open, as were the various other stores in the downtown area. One of the car show participants even took it upon himself to host his own Elvis Trivia Contest, which was fun for the multitudes of spectators that stopped to test their knowledge. Graced with such good weather, everyone was really having a good time, and if Elvis is indeed departed, his spirit was certainly alive on that day!

In addition to hosting many other great auto events, Ronnie Setser hosts a monthly cruise-in at the same downtown Tampa location on the second Saturday of every month (enter at Zack & Tampa St.) from 10am to 12 noon. For more info on Ronnie Setser and the events he hosts click here, and for his pictures from the Elvis Festival click here. CN