Virtual Elvis Festival kicks off in downtown Tupelo

Wednesday afternoon marked the first day of this year’s virtual-based Elvis Presley Festival.

Lee county) emcee ) im here at this elvis presley birthplace where it would usually this time of year be crawling with elvis presley fans from all over the world.

However, with coronavirus looming over the community and health concerns on the line now the festival is going online... "we're not giving in, elvis is going to rock on."

Festival mc tom brown's role will be a little different this year after coronavirus forced the festival to be moved online... but he says not much is changing... "the music is still coming, it's still going to be coming out of tupelo and we're just doing it virtually this year."

To prevent the spread of coronavirus in large crowds, fans can now watch the live entertainment on facebook.

Tom brown says event coordinator debbie branginburg and her team worked hard to give fans the same experience as the previous years... "alot of the special concerts with the different guys.

There an international night, there's a louisiana afternoon, there's conversations with me and interviews with people that knew elvis."

And this year no tickets are required "the way to watch the festival this year and to be a part of no tickets are required it's free."

Erin wilson wtva 9 news you