Various venues in Dublin City Centre

Yes. A Festival celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles in Ireland can only be held in 2013 as the band performed in Dublin only in 1963; two performances in the Adelphi on Abbey Street. 5,200 audience members attended those performances and thousands of ecstatic fans thronged the streets, causing near riots, a sight never before seen in the city, and key to the development of a 'youth culture' in Ireland.

In celebration of The Gathering, the Dublin Beatles Festival intends to put out a special call for those who attended the 1963 gigs to come and stay in Dublin in November 2013 and attend Festival events. Many well-known Irish people were there in '63 including a 12 year old Bob Geldof. We particularly intend to target the UK and US markets as these were countries receiving a large influx of Irish emigrants from the '60s to the '80s. We have had approaches from a number of tv documentary production companies who wish to work with us prior to and during the Festival and would hope to use a documentary to highlight the 'return home' of potential candidates. We will also highlight their Irish roots.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were particularly proud of their Irish heritage. George's mother took the opportunity of their Dublin performances to come and stay with her cousins in Drumcondra. Liverpool, of course, has been referred to as the 'real capital of Ireland'! We will be issuing our next press release on November 7th, 2012 (next week) and will include our call-out.