Cliff Brooker's design for Beatles Day 15.

We hope you will enjoy the show!

It’s a brilliant concept – bands and performers from a multitude of genres, all performing Beatles songs, all in one day, all under one roof. Beatles Day is back, bigger and better for its 15^th instalment, as Grace Vogiatzis reports.

On Sunday 6 April, the White Rock Theatre is once again going to play host to Beatles Day, with an impressive 350 performers taking to two stages with their covers of songs from the Beatles’ extensive back catalogue, all in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

The event, brainchild of local musician Pete Prescott, is certainly unique; mixing your more expected Beatles cover bands with the interpretations of ska, punk rock and jazz acts; for Beatles Day 15 you can “expect blues, country and western, folk, heavy metal, punk, indie, acoustic, song and dance – and even some playing the songs as recorded by the Beatles!”

Visitors are free to wander between the stages of the main auditorium and the downstairs Sussex Hall. With only a few imported acts, and 20 new acts performing this year, the event provides a great opportunity to showcase local and new performers.

A testament to the undisputed brilliance of the Beatles, the quality of the local music scene, and the hard work of its organizers, Beatles Day has steadily grown in size and popularity. As one of the event’s organizers, Graham Belchamber, explains, “Beatles Day all started in a small bar, moved to the Marina Pavilion, then onto Hastings Pier and the White Rock Theatre, and continues to grow. This year the programme was full just after Christmas, with a growing reserve list of performers wishing to play.”

To date the event has raised over £130,000 to help Macmillan Cancer Support, for
people living with cancer in Sussex, and all the musicians are donating their time completely free. Pete and the organizers are rightly immensely proud of Beatles Day; “the fact that it has raised over £130,000 to support people living with cancer in this area, and that it has given so many people the opportunity to play live for the many thousands who have attended over the years.”

The Beatles Day committee of volunteers is already planning next year’s Beatles Day 16, “though for now all aboard the Yellow Submarine for the White Rock Theatre on Sunday 6 April.”

Doors open at 11:30 am, with the first act taking to the stage at 12 noon.

Admission for your 12 hours of music is £10 (cash only) for adults and there are further deals for families and children.

Click here for more information.

Images from last year’s Beatles Day courtesy of Johnny Powell.

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