John Lennon with Harry Nilsson in Central Park, NY 4/28/74
I, Mark Lapidos, was always a big Beatles fan and thought that somebody should do something to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Beatles arrival in America – 1964-1974. It was at the end of 1973, when the idea of BEATLEFEST just popped into my head. After a few months of deliberating I decided to take my personal savings and book the New York Commodore Hotel for the weekend of September 7-8, 1974.
I wasn’t going to do the convention without the Beatles’ permission. I didn’t think that would be right. On April 28th, 1974, I met with John Lennon in his New York City hotel room, told him my whole idea of a Beatles Fans Convention, with Special Guests, Live Concerts, Films, Art Museum and Art Contest, Flea Market, Discussions, Look-Alike and Sound-Alike Contests, Auctions, and a Charity Raffle. John’s exact response was “I’m all for it. I’m a Beatles Fan, too!” It is a moment I will never ever forget. He said he had a guitar in his attic that he would sign and donate for the Charity Raffle, which he did. John chose Phoenix House, (a drug rehab center in NYC) as the charity. All the Beatles contributed signed items to that raffle and to our amazement, we made the cover of Rolling Stone, October 24, 1974! The Beatles world has certainly changed since then, losing John in one of the most nightmarish moments the world has ever experienced, then losing George 21 years later to cancer. But Paul and Ringo keep touring the world, Beatles releases have been coming out at a regular pace and of course, the music has been successfully transferred to the next generations. The Beatles will live forever! We have had the privilege and honor to present almost everyone involved in The Beatles Story over these first 37 years and 114 National FESTS, and we look forward to many more in the future.
