Liverpool is marking the 50th birthday of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album by asking a dizzying array of performers to reinterpret the songs in the city.
From choirs to cabaret performers and musicians to artists, each will stage an event inspired by a different track.
The album - released on 1 June 1967 - regularly comes towards the top of lists of the greatest albums ever made.
Liverpool to reimagine The Beatles' Sgt Pepper in eclectic arts festival
By Ian Youngs, Entertainment & arts reporter
BBC News
22 March 2017
The album, released on 1 June 1967, is regarded by many as the high-point of The Beatles' artistic ambition
Liverpool is marking the 50th birthday of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album by asking a dizzying array of performers to reinterpret the songs in the city.
From choirs to cabaret performers and musicians to artists, each will stage an event inspired by a different track.
The album - released on 1 June 1967 - regularly comes towards the top of lists of the greatest albums ever made.
The Liverpool festival takes place in May and June and is split into two halves - one for each side of the LP.
Side one
Side two will take place from 8-11 June - except A Day in the Life, which will be the finale on 16 June.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: "Sgt Pepper pushed creative boundaries and we want to do exactly the same.
"This is a festival which brings high-end art into the mainstream and gives it a Liverpool twist which is thought-provoking, sometimes cheeky and always entertaining."
Liverpool is marking the 50th birthday of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album by asking a dizzying array of performers to reinterpret the songs in the city
Liverpool to reimagine The Beatles' Sgt Pepper in eclectic arts festival - BBC News
From choirs to cabaret performers and musicians to artists, each will stage an event inspired by a different track.
The album - released on 1 June 1967 - regularly comes towards the top of lists of the greatest albums ever made.
Liverpool to reimagine The Beatles' Sgt Pepper in eclectic arts festival
By Ian Youngs, Entertainment & arts reporter
BBC News
22 March 2017
The album, released on 1 June 1967, is regarded by many as the high-point of The Beatles' artistic ambition
Liverpool is marking the 50th birthday of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album by asking a dizzying array of performers to reinterpret the songs in the city.
From choirs to cabaret performers and musicians to artists, each will stage an event inspired by a different track.
The album - released on 1 June 1967 - regularly comes towards the top of lists of the greatest albums ever made.
The Liverpool festival takes place in May and June and is split into two halves - one for each side of the LP.
Side one
- Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Mark Morris Dance Group will stage the premiere of Pepperland, with a score inspired by Beatles tracks and performed by a chamber music ensemble
- With a Little Help From My Friends - Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller will unveil two public art commissions on the themes of friendship and self-sacrifice
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - French pyrotechnic specialists GroupeF and US electronic composer Scott Gibbons will put on a light show that's billed as "part performance, part storytelling and part pyro display"
- She's Leaving Home - Liverpool youth theatre company 20 Stories High will take over people's living rooms in Toxteth to stage a new play about home and housing
- Fixing a Hole - US artist Judy Chicago, known for her epic installations, will create her largest work yet - a mural on the side of the grain silo on Great Howard Street
- Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite - Aintree Racecourse will host an event inspired by John Cage's anarchic Musicircus involving thousands of local people, performers and musicians
- Getting Better - DJ Spooky will create a performance and audio-visual installation asking whether the world is getting better
- Within You Without You - Leading Indian musicians will perform in the traditional splendour of St George's Hall to reflect The Beatles' links with India
- When I'm Sixty-Four - Sixty-four choirs of all ages from the city will come together to perform a mass sing-along of the track on BBC Radio Merseyside
- Lovely Rita - Cabaret performer Meow Meow will lead a colourful procession featuring a 300-strong brass band up Hope Street, ending in a "thought-provoking installation"
- Good Morning Good Morning - Theatres, clubs, galleries and music venues will open their doors at the crack of dawn for one day on 9 June
- Reprise - An unnamed "leading artist" will perform incognito in a surprise venue, also on 9 June
- A Day in the Life - Writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce and film director Carl Hunter will screen a documentary being shot over 24 hours on 1 June, the album's actual anniversary
Side two will take place from 8-11 June - except A Day in the Life, which will be the finale on 16 June.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: "Sgt Pepper pushed creative boundaries and we want to do exactly the same.
"This is a festival which brings high-end art into the mainstream and gives it a Liverpool twist which is thought-provoking, sometimes cheeky and always entertaining."
Liverpool is marking the 50th birthday of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album by asking a dizzying array of performers to reinterpret the songs in the city
Liverpool to reimagine The Beatles' Sgt Pepper in eclectic arts festival - BBC News
