empire state TRIBUTE FESTIVAL
History
The Empire State Tribute Festival grew out of the long running, highly successful Lake George Elvis Festival.
The Lake George Elvis Festival began in 2004. The festival was founded by a group of Lake George residents, business owners and fans of the King of Rock and Roll®. Their intent was to create a festival that would honor the music and life of Elvis Presley® while at the same time building a festival that would bring economic benefit to the Lake George Region. The festival would bring the music of the King to the Queen of America’s Lakes.
The festival’s founders worked with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. to create a world class event respectful to everything Elvis® stood for. Since the festival’s inception, it has continued to grow, and is now the second-largest Elvis® Tribute Artist Competition in the world. The festival attracted competitors and spectators from across the globe.
In 2007, the LakeGeorge Elvis Festival was one of a handful of Elvis® Tribute Artist competitions selected to be a qualifying round for the first annual Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest® to be held in Memphis, TN. Through 2019 the festival worked with EPE, Inc. and the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest®, and we are proud that many of our winners have gone on to rank well among the top ten finalists.
In 2019, after 16 straight years of production, the final Lake George Elvis Festival was held and we had plans to evolve the event into the Lake George Tribute Festival in 2020. Unfortunately, do to the global pandemic, the event was not held in 2020 or 2021 and then our venue, the Lake George Forum was sold and converted to a boat dealership. Since no suitable venue was found in the Lake George Region, the event became the “Empire State Tribute Festival” and will be held at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY.
*A smaller, more intimate Lake George Tribute Festival will be reintroduced in 2026, see info below:
What’s the difference between the event at Turning Stone Casino and the event in Lake George?
The Empire State Tribute Festival is a longer weekend of entertainment provided in one of the most impressive casino showrooms outside of Las Vegas. We have more headliners and for 2026 the finals of the Images of the King World Championship.
The Lake George Tribute Festival will be smaller and more intimate. The contest is a preliminary for Images of the King. See the Lake George Tribute Festival home page by clicking here for whats coming back in 2026 and what you should expect to be different!
2024 Results
Professional Division
- Rick Lenzi
- Dan Fontaine
- Maxlee James
- Patrick Balleux
- Dan Barrella
Non-Professional Division
- Kevin Hupka
- Luke Barnhart
- Ruben Castillo
Big Little-King Division
- Jackson Ducharme
2023 Results
Professional Division
- Jordan Poole
- Bruno Nesci
- Dan Barrella
- Dan Fontaine
- Nathan Pittorf
Non-Professional Division
- Maxless James
- Kevin Hupka
- John Cigan
Big Little-King Division
- Jackson Ducharme
Fan’s Choice: Phil Maiorano
2022 Results
Professional Division
- Sylvain Leduc
- Bruno Nesci
- Mario Kombou
Non-Professional Division
- Jonathan Rader
- Kevin Hupka
- Eric Evangelista
Big Little-King Division
- Nathan Pittorf