McCartney Times

The world’s largest and longest-running Beatles festival returns to Liverpool this month – with special guests including John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer Alan White.

International Beatleweek 2019 will feature 70 bands from 20 countries and is worth an estimated £2.8m to the city’s economy.

Fab Four fans from around 40 countries across the world, including Brazil, Russia, the US, Spain and the Netherlands, will converge on the Mersey for the seven-day event, organised by Cavern City Tours.

This year marks 50 years since the release of Abbey Road and 60 years since the Casbah Club was opened by Mona Best – mother of The Beatles’ first drummer Pete Best – in West Derby.

Both landmark anniversaries will be celebrated at events between August 21-27, as will the Mathew Street Festival which ran alongside Beatleweek for 20 years until it was cancelled in 2013.

If you’re a Beatles fan you should listen to this

Our Beatles podcast returns for a second series bringing fans the story of the band that shook the world from the place where it all began.

Beatles City features interviews with those who were there at the birth of Merseybeat and played a part in the group’s rise to fame as well as those with a unique insight into the time.

Screenwriter Richard Curtis and director Danny Boyle are joined by Himesh Patel, star of the new film Yesterday, for the launch episode of the second series.

In the new series, presenters Laura Davis and Ellen Kirwin also speak to the man who was a Beatle for just two weeks, take a tour of John Lennon’s and Paul McCartney’s childhood homes and find out it was like to grow up as a young musician in The Beatles’ shadow.

And you can still listen to the popular debut series, in which fan club secretary Freda Kelly reveals why she asked George Harrison for some of his hair, Pete Best recalls the moment he was sacked from the band and McCartney himself shares the emotional moment he stepped through the doors of his childhood home for the first time in 50 years.

Find Beatles City on iTunes, Acast and all usual podcast providers.

The festival includes the Annual Beatles Convention at the Adelphi Hotel on Sunday, August 25 which features guest speakers, interviews, film shows, a giant Beatles flea market, and performances from 40 tribute bands.

John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird will be appearing at the event as well as Yes drummer Alan White, who played with both Lennon and George Harrison, and recording studio engineer Jack Douglas who worked with Lennon on both Imagine and Double Fantasy.

Bill Heckle, Cavern City Tours director, said: “Beatleweek remains the biggest celebration of Beatles’ music anywhere in the world, and despite it being 50 years since the band broke up, their songs continue to inspire a new generation of fans and musicians.

“What International Beatleweek has done over the past three decades is to create this amazing family all over the globe. It’s an umbrella for like-minded people, many of whom have forged deep friendships over many years – and some of which have resulted in marriage.

“This year’s event sold out in May which makes it the fastest-selling in Beatleweek’s long history. This is fantastic for the future of the festival, but also for Liverpool’s tourism industry.”

He added that International Beatleweek is worth an estimated £1m a year to Liverpool, with thousands of festival-goers travelling from dozens of countries, spending money on hotels, taxis, experiences and souvenirs, and in restaurants, bars and cafes across the city.

Source: International Beatle Week to celebrate Abbey Road anniversary and the Mathew Street Festival – Liverpool Echo