Elvis Fans Will Have a Blue Christmas If They Miss These Events in Shreveport-Bossier

Photo caption: Elvis 1954 first performance on the “Louisiana Hayride.” Courtesy of LSUS Archives and Special Collections, Noel Memorial Library.

NEWS RELEASE

Media Contact

Aly Velasquez, Marketing Associate

Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau

avelasquez@sbctb.org or 318-213-8266

Elvis Fans Will Have a Blue Christmas If They Miss These Events in Shreveport-Bossier

Backstage Music Tours at Shreveport Municipal Auditorium will be open to the public in November and December and James Burton will perform a special Christmas concert dedicated to the memory of Elvis.

SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER, LA- This holiday season, Elvis Presley fans will have the opportunity to stand on the stage where Elvis made his radio debut and attend a Christmas tribute concert featuring members of Elvis’s band in Shreveport-Bossier.

Throughout November and December, Shreveport Municipal Auditorium will offer ticketed, public Backstage Music Tours of the historic venue. The auditorium is a National Historic Landmark known internationally for its role in music history. The iconic venue was once home to the radio broadcast program the Louisiana Hayride. From 1948 to 1960, the radio program helped launch the musical careers of some of the greatest names in American rock and roll and country music history including Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and most notably Elvis Presley. On October 16, 1954, Elvis Presley made his national broadcast debut on the Louisiana Hayride.

An expert tour guide will share stories and songs of the stars that have graced the stage of Shreveport Municipal Auditorium since its completion in 1929. The Backstage Music Tours will be held at 2 p.m., Nov. 11, Dec. 2, and Dec. 9 and 6:30 p.m., Nov. 29.

Elvis fans should not miss the James Burton Christmas Concert: Memories of Elvis at 8 p.m. on Dec. 8 at Margaritaville Paradise Theater. The concert will feature Elvis’s guitarist James Burton and Estelle Brown who was a member of Sweet Inspirations, a women’s gospel quartet that sang back-up for Elvis from 1969 until 1977. The group is also well-known for singing backup for Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Bee Gees.

General admission tickets are $30 and VIP tickets are $100. VIP ticket holders will have access to a 6 p.m. pre-show featuring an interview and Q&A with James Burton, Estelle Brown, and Sam Thompson, Elvis’s bodyguard.

For a complete list of holiday events in Shreveport-Bossier, visit www.HolidayTrailofLights.com or request a Holly Jolly Handbook to Shreveport-Bossier by calling (800) 551-8682.

Shreveport-Bossier is a partner in the Louisiana Holiday Trail of Lights, which also includes Minden, Monroe-West Monroe, Natchitoches, and Alexandria/Pineville. To learn more about events and holiday happenings visit www.holidaytrailoflights.com.

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Note to media: High-resolution Christmas images are available. Please contact Aly Velasquez at avelasquez@sbctb.org.