Friday, May 20, 2011

Abbey Road on the River: Louisville KY: May 26-30, 2011



BEETLE FEST
article by Gary Jacob

When it comes to The Beatles, we are always marking one milestone or another. When you are the most popular artists in the history of the world, people tend to study every day you lived and analyze every word you said. Historians and fans spend years rediscovering your photographs, videos, letters,and postcards.

Yet, there are certain milestones when the entire planet pauses to reflect. Saturday, Oct. 09 marks John Lennon's 70th Birthday, and Dec. 08 marks the 30th time we have to stop and miss him more. This young man, with so many ideas to share, so many faces to photograph, so many songs to sing was left to the ages by a bullet. Frustrating and senseless; we all share an inner pain that never quite goes away. Just Give Me Some Truth.

What is it about these lads that transcends time, crosses generations, and ignites so much universal Love? History simply does not have an art form that parallels this phenomenon. Almost 50 years after the media inserted them in every newspaper and on every radio & tv in every home, they are still on every radio & tv station and in every newspaper, plus now also, on your game device, computer, phone, ipod........and still in every home.

Another milestone, though hardly as significant, is that, Abbey Road On The River is marking its 10th year as the biggest Beatles Music Festival in the world. In 2010 over 40,000 Beatles fans came to Louisville, over Memorial Day weekend and to Washington D.C. over Labor Day weekend to help us celebrate the four lads we all love so much. They arrive with strollers and baby slings and some use walkers or canes, but one way or another, everyone is dancing. They attend from 40 states and 10 countries. When thirteen year old boys dance with their mothers, and dads & daughters and fathers & sons take to the stage to sing and play this amazing music together, you know you are experiencing something very good, very healthy, and very uplifting.

Fans who first attended our event in Cleveland in 2002 alone, now come every year to meet and dance with new best friends they made at AROTR. We have created a family out of our deep love, respect, and affection for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. We love and honor Yoko, Linda, Olivia, and Barbara. We treat as our family Pete, Julian, Sean, Dhani, Heather, James, Stella, Mary, Beatrice, Zak, Jason, and Lee. And always open our hearts and doors to Cynthia, Patti, and HM too. Equally, we love these amazing bands who travel from all over the world to entertain us and amaze us with their talent and inspiring friendships.

We love them all, the boys and girls from Liverpool; without who, these last 10 years would not be possible.

We invite you to join us as we start our 2nd decade of peace, love, and rock and roll and experience the two summer weekends Beatles fans mark their year by.


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4 comments:

  1. A stay in a bed and breakfast inn is a much more personal, enjoyable and satisfying experience which can never be replicated in any hotel or motel establishment. If you match a good destination with a place to stay like a bed and breakfast inn where you can be cozy, relaxed and be treated like a special guest, then you know you've already arranged for yourself a truly satisfying and successful trip.

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  2. Thanks for the nice comment and the kudos for bed and breakfasts. I tend to agree with you.

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  3. I love staying at a Bed & Breakfast during my travels, they are so much more personable than a hotel. I alway enjoy meeting the owners or managers they always seem to have some really great stories.

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  4. @Green Mountain Realty: We, as owners, also enjoy meeting our guests. They come from all over the world and bring with them many interesting experiences and stories to share. I've been doing this for 17 years and have enjoyed just about every minute of it. And...yes...I do have a few stories of my own to tell. The most interesting ones will be in my memoir of the years I have been an Innkeeper. It is nearly finished. I have excerpts on one of my other blogs: www.amemorabletimeofmylife.blogspot.com/

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