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It’s the most reverential evening of the year for Elvis Presley fans.

Single-file crowds with anywhere from 3,000 people in an off-year to as many as 10,000 or more expected this year make the annual candlelight vigil the true pilgrimage for the Elvis faithful.

Bearing candles lit in honor of the dead King of rock and roll, fans stand in line as long as two hours, usually in the steamiest weather of the year, to pay their respects to Elvis, his parents and grandmother.

Anyone other than a true fan may wonder at the somber, almost religious nature of the vigil ceremony. Others may wonder that the Presleys are one of the very few Memphis families allowed to be buried in their own backyard.

From Graceland officials and fan-club members to police assigned to oversee the vigil, it is an event surrounded by wonder, by written and unwritten rules and by once-a-year traffic patterns.

Lt. R. W. McCulley, in charge of special events for the Memphis Police Department’s traffic division, is 50 years old and was “amazed and shocked” when he saw his first vigil.

“It’s somber, very somber, very respectful. I’m amazed at the young kids who weren’t even born when Elvis was alive. They’re folks who come every single year. They’ve made an icon out of him.”

McCulley says traffic on Elvis Presley Boulevard will be blocked off beginning at 6 p.m. today between Bluebird on the north and Dolan on the south, roughly a mile. He suggests drivers use other thoroughfares, including Winchester on the north, Third Street on the west, Raines Road on the south and Millbranch on the east. Elvis Presley will be reopened Saturday sometime between 4 and 6 a.m.

Parking for the vigil is free in the Graceland visitor area across from the mansion, which holds roughly 1,500 cars, says Graceland creative services director Todd Morgan. After that, vehicles must find any available parking. The vigil also is free, with a brief opening ceremony conducted by the Elvis Country Fan Club from Texas following by the procession to the Meditation Garden.

A three-page list of instructions for vigil attendees includes advice that the tribute was set up by fans “who take this tribute seriously.” Avoid “loud or boisterous behavior,” says Morgan. “The festive nature of the rest of Elvis Week offers nine days of ample opportunity to whoop it up.”

Still cameras may be used on the Graceland grounds, but camera tripods, video equipment, movie cameras, tape recorders, tape players and radios are prohibited, according to the instructions. Food items, drink cans and glass containers are not allowed on Graceland property, and neither smoking nor public drunkenness is allowed on the property.

Single flowers, small bouquets or remembrances may be carried to the grave site during the procession, but larger floral arrangements or memorial displays require arrangements through the offices of Elvis Presley Enterprises.

For eight vigils, Jean Donovan, secretary and newsletter editor of the Elvis Memphis Style fan club, has made the procession to the grave sites. “It isn’t like a party kind of thing,” she says. “You should act the way you would if you go to someone’s house or to church or to a school. You behave yourself and be respectful.”

Police, Graceland officials and fan-club members say those who take part in the vigil almost never step over the line of propriety. But McCulley says the 20th anniversary could bring special problems. “Generally it’s a well-behaved crowd, but anytime you get a crowd together it’s a ripe audience to try to sell merchandise to, and this weekend Elvis is going to be a hot commodity.”

Mary Stonebraker, president of Elvis’s Hometown Fans Fan Club, says the only disagreeable incidents she has seen involved the curious who were not fans. “Sometimes they come just to see what happens, and most of the time it’s those that abuse the whole thing.”

Her husband, Bud Stonebraker, vice president of the fan club, says there is no single mindset during Elvis Tribute Week or at the vigil. “All Elvis people have their own feelings. Some treat it like a party. To us older people it’s both a mourning and a day of gladness. We get to see people we haven’t seen for a year or meet new people. We pay homage . . . because of what was inside Elvis - the love he had for his fans. He loved his fans, and, in turn, we loved him.”