The exhibition celebrating the extraordinary life and style of Elvis Presley has become Bendigo Art Gallery's most successful exhibition ever.
The Bendigo Art Gallery unveiled its biggest exhibition yet when around 300 cherished artefacts owned by ‘The King of Rock and Roll,’ Elvis Presley, made their way Down Under in March.
Travelling from Memphis, Tennessee and coming directly from Elvis’ Graceland home, the display is giving visitors a sense of both the public and private life of Elvis as well as his enormous influence on popular culture that can still be felt today.
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Unsurprisingly, the collection has people flocking to Bendigo from all over the country to experience an exhibition that has never been seen before in Australia, smashing attendance records to become the most successful exhibition ever at Bendigo Art Gallery.
Featuring 300 artefacts owned by Elvis, including a wide range of costumes and ultra-cool outfits, vintage memorabilia, and treasured items from his beloved Graceland home, the exhibition has seen Bendigo Art Gallery welcome more than 219,000 visitors through its doors since the sold-out Elvis: Direct from Graceland exhibition opened in March 2022, with more visitors expected before the magic of Elvis leaves the building this Sunday.
The box office record set by Elvis: Direct from Graceland beats out previous major Bendigo International Collections exhibitions, including Grace Kelly: Style Icon and Bendigo Art Gallery and Twentieth Century Fox present Marilyn Monroe, which attracted 152,706 and 143,222 people respectively.
Exhibitions like this deliver a huge boost for local businesses, tourism to the region, and the economy. Not including Elvis: Direct from Graceland, more than 400,000 people have attended Bendigo International Collections exhibitions – generating an economic impact of over $40 million for Greater Bendigo.
Elvis’s impressive collection of memorabilia has attracted a whole new audience to Bendigo Art Gallery with 67,000 of the attendees being first-time visitors. Approximately 86 per cent of ticket buyers have been from outside of Bendigo, with over 24,000 of those guests travelling from out-of-state to view the exhibition.
Supported by the Labor Government’s Major Events Fund through Visit Victoria, Elvis: Direct from Graceland is part of a jam-packed calendar of major events in 2022, helping to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors and create local jobs.
“Elvis: Direct from Graceland has been a smash hit for Bendigo and for Victoria, now with the return of White Night Bendigo another blockbuster event will deliver a massive drawcard for visitors to the region and to the state,” says Minister for Tourism, Sport, Major Events and Creative Industries Steve Dimopoulos.
“Victoria offers world-class experiences from across the world – there’s never been a better time to jump in the car and head up the highway to rediscover everything that makes our state the cultural heartland of the nation.”
The exhibition runs until the 17th of July and is now completely sold-out.
Find out more about Elvis: Direct from Graceland at Bendigo Art Gallery here.
