DUBLIN (Reuters) - A shaggy goat called Elvis has been crowned king of an Irish town at one of the country's oldest and most unusual street festivals.
With a gold crown perched on his head, the long-haired white goat will reign over Puck Fair until Thursday from a platform high above the main square in Killorglin, southwest Ireland.
"He was a bit rough at first, but he is actually quite friendly once you get to know him," Fair Queen Clodagh O'Shea said on Wednesday.
"He is not as smelly as I expected him to be," the 12-year-old schoolgirl told Reuters by telephone after she crowned Elvis last night.
The reason why the town crowns a wild goat or "puck" each year and celebrates the occasion with a three-day street party is lost in the mists of Irish history.
Some say it stems from the Celtic festival of Lughnasa, an ancient pagan celebration to mark the start of the harvest.
Others say it is an annual tribute to a wild goat that alerted the town to the advancing armies of English leader Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century.
Whatever the truth, the festival has grown into a moneyspinner that attracts thousands of tourists seeking three days of Irish "craic" or good times. Organisers estimate 100,000 people will spend 6 million euros ($7.4 million) during three days of music, drinking and dancing.
Among the attractions are a horse and cattle fair, duck racing, circus performers and free-flowing Guinness stout.
The fair ends on Thursday evening when Elvis, described as the "friskiest goat in years", will be lowered and released into the Kerry hills where he was captured last week.
:banghead:
