Wednesday, August 25, 1999 Published at 15:15 GMT 16:15 UK
Submarine buoys Beatles week
The Beatles 1968 animated fantasy has been digitally renovated
Thousands of Fab Four fans are coming together for an extra special International Beatles Week.
The annual music extravaganza regularly attracts huge numbers to Liverpool, the Beatles' hometown. But this year there is added interest with the premiere of the revamped Yellow Submarine movie - the week's highlight.
In its honour, the city's traditional Mathew Street Festival has been revived and dubbed the Yellow Submarine Festival for 30 August.
Every bar, pub, club and restaurant within 500 yards - and beyond - of the street, home of the Cavern Club, will come alive to eight hours of non-stop live Beatles music and events.
The screening of the renovated film will round off a day of music at the city's Philharmonic Hall in the evening.
Mike Storey from the city council said the whole of Liverpool was looking forward to the week ahead.
"We are very proud and excited to be welcoming the world to this celebration of the Beatles and their music.
"Thirty years ago, through Yellow Submarine, the Beatles sent a message of peace and love around the globe.
Organisers of Beatles Week say that the re-release of Yellow Submarine has increased the number of visitors for this year's event.
Hotels have been booked up for months and the day itself is expected to draw up to 200,000 into the city centre.
"When you look back to when the film was first made it was a landmark in film-making, story-telling and music," said Steve McGriskin of Liverpool's Cavern City Tours.
But even without the Yellow Submarine, the annual celebration of the Fab Four is for many fans irresistible.
Full festival agenda
The music extravaganza kicks off in London's Covent Garden with a party at the Rock Garden. But on 26 August, the scene switches to the band's home town for six days of Beatlemania.
Tribute bands from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Norway and Poland will entertain the thousands of people that traditionally converge on the city.
Then 40 years of the Casbah Club in the West Derby area of Liverpool, where the Beatles held their earliest gigs before the Cavern, will be toasted with a party hosted by former Beatle Pete Best.
But the week's festivities will undoubtedly come to a head with Yellow Submarine Day.
Tickets for the premiere of the movie, which includes previously unseen footage cut from the original 1968 film, are said to be sold out.
International Beatles Week runs from 25-31 August. Tel: 0151-236 9091. The movie and album are released on 14 September.
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