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Greetings from Louisville... Louisville's racing fans will sprint north on I-65 to the Indianapolis 500, and Hoosiers who have never forgotten the Fab Four from England -- and are looking for an excuse to get out of town -- will drive south for "Abbey Road On the River," the largest Beatles festival in America. Twenty thousand Beatles fans from all over the world are expected to gather in Louisville at the art, food and music festival. "Man, the news of your festival was awesome!!! We can't wait for May to arrive!!!," wrote Becky from Chicago on the festival's e-mail guestbook after Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson announced the arrival of what he hopes will become a signature event in his city each Memorial Day weekend. The May 27-29 festival should pump about $3 million into the Louisville area economy, Abramson said. The festival was born in Cleveland three years ago by event developer Gary Jacob, based on a weeklong Beatles gathering in Liverpool, England, that began two decades ago. "I moved it because Louisville presented so many more opportunities," Jacob said. He praised Louisville's geographic position among Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan and the Carolinas as a boon to fans who drive to the festival. It also didn't hurt, Jacob said, that Abramson is a Beatles fan; the festival has access to the new Festival Park on the city's Ohio Riverfront and twin theaters at the Kentucky Center; it gained a large title sponsorship from Fifth Third Bank, and secured the Galt Hotel and Suites as the festival's home base. The offer of the Memorial Day weekend "sealed the deal" because it provides an extra travel day on the Monday after the holiday. Since tickets quietly went on sale in November by e-mail to the festival's core base of fans -- a month before Abramson announced the festival was moving -- ticket sale have surged, Jacob said. "We did in one month (in ticket sales) what it used to take us four months to do," he said. Forty U.S. and international bands are expected to perform. "They are not all Beatles look-alike bands or performers," Jacob said. "Too many look-alikes look creepy. I'm very careful not to pick only bands that do Mop Top music. That can wear on you, too. You don't want audiences sneering at the performers. "I went half with cover bands -- entertainers who do their own interpretations of the Beatles' music. Jazz Beatles. Classical guitar Beatles. Reggae Beatles. Blues Beatles. The other half of the bands dress and perform like the Beatles." Foreign bands scheduled to appear will come from England, Canada, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Japan, Sweden, Brazil, Greece and Australia. Neither of the surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, is expected to attend. The event also will include a Beatles film festival, lectures on the group, a memorabilia sale and a candlelight sing-along honoring the late George Harrison and John Lennon. Ticket prices range from $15 for a one-day ticket to a $160 Ultimate Ticket to Ride. For information on tickets and activities, call (216) 378-1980 or visit www.abbeyroadontheriver.com. |
Abbey Road on the River is produced by Abbey Road on the River LLC, a Kentucky Limited Liability Corporation, and 365 Events, an Ohio Corporation. For more information, call 216.378.1980 or e-mail. "The Beatles" is a federally registered trademark of Apple Corps Limited ("Apple"). Abbey Road on the River is not endorsed by or affiliated with Apple Corps Limited. |