The first event, a Mark Morris Dance Group staging, will take place from May 25-27, with the rest of the side A events running from June 1-5.
The Beatles formed in Liverpool in 1960, with their seminal eighth album ‘Sgt Pepper’ released on June 1, 1967.13 artists have been commissioned to create works based on the record’s 13 tracks, with the events being held as part of a diverse festival series in the city.
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Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller has created two public art works on the themes of friendship and self-sacrifice and based on track two ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’, while an unnamed “leading artist” will perform a surprise gig on June 9 as part of a two-part festival series.
Side B will follow from June 8-11, with the final event – based on the closing track ‘A Day in the Life’ – bringing celebrations to an end on June 16. Liverpool’s mayor Joe Anderson says of the plans to mark the album’s half-centenary: “‘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.”
