Your At-a-Glance Guide to This Weekend’s NY Fest for Beatles Fans
Starting Friday, the Fest for Beatles Fans returns to the New York metro area for its 41st year and another exciting convention! After a spectacular Fest at the Grand Hyatt in New York City last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in the United States and the Fest’s 40th birthday, this year’s celebration will take place at the Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook, New York. The convention was originally slated to return to the regular venue at the Empire Meadowlands Hotel in New Jersey, but the collapse of the parking structure at that hotel over the winter left the exhibit space vulnerable and unusable. Fortunately, Mark Lapidos was able to secure a new location as an alternate venue, and it promises to be a beautiful and exciting new place for all the activities that will be happening all weekend.
Special guests
The Fest will have plenty of special guests and fun events, including Master of Ceremonies Ken Dashow; Los Angeles promoter and radio personality Bob Eubanks (who some people might remember as the host of The Newlywed Game); Ringo Starr’s former producer and Fest favorite Mark Hudson; guitar virtuoso and former member of Wings, Laurence Juber; musicians Mark Rivera and Gary Wright; photographers Rob Shanahan, Allan Tannenbaum, Bob Gruen, and Nancy Lee Andrews and a huge line-up of authors including Vivek Tiwary (The Fifth Beatle); Jude Southerland Kessler (The John Lennon Series); Judith Kristen (A Date with a Beatle); Robert Rodriguez (Solo in the ’70s); David Bedford (The Fab 104); Candy Leonard (Beatleness); Dave Schwensen (The Beatles at Shea Stadium); Anthony Robustelli (I Want to Tell You: The Definitive Guide to the Beatles’ Music); Chuck Gunderson (Some Fun Tonight), and Al Sussman (Changin’ Times), plus many others! As usual, Tom Frangione will preside over the trivia and Name That Tune competitions, and Bob Abdou (“Mr. Puppet”) will provide entertainment with his fun puppet shows and Beatles parade featuring some new puppets this year!
Panels
Panels are very much a part of the Fest as well, and this year is no exception. There’s an exciting lineup of discussions for every taste about books, photography, music, and more! Don’t forget the Women Historians Panel on Saturday evening at 6:15 PM, a recap of the year 1965 on Friday evening at 10:15 PM, or the Fab 4 Free 4 All guys on Saturday at 8:45 PM. And, of course, come in to cheer on your favorite entrants in the sound-alikes on Saturday, or take in the Battle of the Bands in the main ballroom on Sunday.
And so much more!
Of course, if seeing the Beatles on the big screen is your thing, you won’t go wrong if you check out the video room. All sorts of rare material is likely to pop up — more than enough to satisfy even the most jaded fan’s visual fix. And when you’re done in there, there are still loads of things you can do, like shop in the vast Fest Marketplace; relax, meditate, and wind down in the Ashram; or free your creative self in the “Faboratory!” There’s even things for the littlest fans to do, with a children’s art corner and plenty of age-appropriate fun. And speaking of art, don’t forget to check out the Art Contest, and vote for your favorites!
There’s too much on the schedule to be able to talk about it all, and this is but a small sampling of what will be happening this weekend, but rest assured that a trip to this year’s New York Fest (which is already being called “Festchester” on social media because of the new location) will not disappoint. With two-and-a-half days of non-stop Beatles fun, fans young and old will not run out of things to do or see, and, as the Lapidos family has promised since the very beginning, “a splendid time is guaranteed for all!”
