Each September Porthcawl hosts the largest Elvis tribute festival in Europe — three days of impersonators, tribute bands, look-alike contests, and karaoke spread across the Grand Pavilion, the town's pubs, and pop-up stages along the esplanade. Visitors and contestants come from as far as the United States, Australia, and across Europe.
It is a strange and entirely sincere weekend. The town quintuples in population, every hotel and B&B is booked months in advance, and the contests for best Elvis (categorised by era — gold lamé, military, jumpsuit) are genuinely well attended. If you have any tolerance for Elvis at all, it is a remarkable spectacle. If you don't, book accommodation any other weekend of the year.