The Adelaide Town Hall will celebrate 60 years since The Beatles’ visit to Adelaide in June with a curated display, free community concert, book launch and author talk.
On 12 June 1964, the biggest band in the world were met by the biggest crowd of their career. An estimated 300,000 people lined the streets from Adelaide Airport to the Adelaide Town Hall to welcome The Beatles ahead of their performances at Wayville’s Centennial Hall.
The pop group famously waved to their frenzied fans from the Adelaide Town Hall balcony during the official Civic welcome, which was followed by a Lord Mayoral reception. The cultural and historical impact of this visit remains significant for the people of Adelaide, a UNESCO City of Music, and is celebrated as a major landmark for Australia in The Beatles own touring history.
Events to be held by the City of Adelaide to mark the occasion are:
Beatles Take Adelaide Display
Northern Gallery, Adelaide Town Hall
June 2024
Free
See the fun, frenzy and fashion of the weekend BeatleMania hit Adelaide in 1964 in the Northern Gallery at the Adelaide Town Hall with memorabilia, newspaper clippings and photography of the record-breaking crowd captured by photographer Vic Grimmett.
The LadyBeatles in Concert
Auditorium, Adelaide Town Hall
Wednesday 12 June 2024
12:30pm to 1:30 pm
Free
Adelaide’s own The LadyBeatles will perform the original set played by The Beatles 60 years ago. With love and fanatical attention to detail, The LadyBeatles faithfully recreate The Beatles’ sound that defined an era. Whether you’re a lifelong Beatles enthusiast or a newer fan, The LadyBeatles promise a nostalgic trip of rock’n’roll, musicianship, and fun that made the world fall in love with The Beatles.
The event is part of the Adelaide Town Hall’s popular free lunchtime community concert series.
When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964
Book Launch & In Conversation Talk
Auditorium, Adelaide Town Hall
12 June 2024
1:40pm to 2:30 pm
Free
Authors Greg Armstrong and Andy Neill will launch their comprehensive new book When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964 with a talk following The LadyBeatles performance. The authors visited Adelaide in 2022 and were supported with their research for the book by the Council’s City Archives team. The book features chapters dedicated to The Beatles visit to Adelaide, and the saga of The Beatles not originally including Adelaide on their Australian tour schedule. There will be a Q&A as part of the in conversation talk so audience members can share and relive their memories of this iconic moment in the history of Adelaide, Australia’s first and only UNESCO City of Music.
Candlelight Concert: Tribute to The Beatles on Strings
The Meeting Hall, Paul Kelly Lane
Thursday 6 June 2024
6:30 pm (sold out) / 8:30 pm (tickets available)
Fever presents Candlelight Concert: Tribute to The Beatles on Strings performed by The Collective String Quartet. Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Adelaide.
