Every fall, the Beatles music festival, Abbey on the River, will give travelers a reason to plan a fun and exciting trip to Kentucky. For five days in September, hippies, music lovers and John Lennon worshippers will all converge in Louisville for the world’s largest and most popular Beatles festival.
Abbey Road on the River is a music fest showcasing the world’s best Beatles tribute bands. This is a multi-stage event, which allows fans to bounce around the grounds and take in as much music and Beatles-oriented fun as possible. This year, more than 75 musical acts will preform their favorite songs, some of which will be flying into the Washington area from as far away as Germany and Italy. Festival goers will be able to attend up to 50 concerts each day, if they wish, for an ultra Beatles experience.
The festival was originally created by Gary Jacob, a super fan who developed and produced the first event in Cleveland, Ohio in 2002. Since 2005, Abbey Road on the River has been held in Louisville, Kentucky over Memorial Day weekend. In 2010, an additional east coast venue was announced, allowing individuals in the Washington, D.C. area to have their own Beatles fun in the early fall each year.
In addition to the incredible amount of music that festival goers will be presented with at this year’s festival, there will also be multiple Beatles-related speakers, round table discussions and film screenings. In the past, special guests have included Pete Best, who was the band’s drummer before Ringo took over; Louise Harrison, George Harrison’s sister; and Denny Laine, a member of Paul McCartney and the Wings.
The major event that many individuals are looking forward to this September is the scheduled reenactment of LOVE, the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack of the world-famous Cirque du Soleil performance. Several of the tribute bands have been working to put together the more than 100 remixed songs that they will play for audiences towards the end of the week. Other events to look forward to this year include Bobby McKey’s “With A Little Help From My Friends” Singalong Party and Allessandra Marc’s highly anticipated performance of My Sweet Lord on acoustic guitar.