Photo: The bronze statues of Elvis Presley and James Burton are back on Elvis Presley Boulevard and will be uncovered on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014.
Before I started by job at the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau (who, as I occasionally point out, make this blog possible), I would never have guessed that the single most-photographed spot in Shreveport-Bossier is the statue of a young Elvis Presley that stands next to a statue of guitarist James Burton outside of Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. I had no idea how many visitors wander up, from places near and far, to those statues and snap photos on a daily basis. It happens a lot.
That’s why I was so happy to see that the statues have been returned following a brief period of absence during the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium’s recent renovations. As of today (Thursday, Aug. 21), they’re in place but covered. Why are they covered? Well, they’ll be uncovered at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, and get this: James Burton will uncover the James Burton statue and Priscilla Presley will uncover the Elvis statue. Does that seem kind of “once-in-a-lifetime” to anyone else? I messaged some of the event organizers to make sure that I’d heard correctly, and they confirmed that, yes, Priscilla will be uncovering the statue and the public is welcome to come and spectate while that happens. That should be a pretty cool moment to witness.
This weekend, of course, is a huge one for fans of James Burton and for fans of rock and country music in general. The James Burton International Guitar Festival has a huge line-up of events planned, culminating in Saturday night’s concert at Shreveport Municipal Auditorium featuring the likes of Trace Adkins, Vince Gill and many, many more. Click here for tickets to Saturday night’s concert or click here to see the festival’s full schedule of events.
I’m excited about the concert, but I’m also excited about the fact that Elvis Presley Boulevard’s most photo-op friendly residents are back to stay.
