'Beatlemania was in full flight': When the Fab Four graced Winnipeg 60 years ago
Fun fact: What was the first Canadian city the Beatles set foot in?
You'd be wrong if you answered Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver.
On August 18, 1964, 60 years and one day ago, the Fab Four made an unscheduled stop in Winnipeg, drawing more than 1,000 fans to the airport.
However, it wasn’t an impromptu concert; the band was traveling from London to San Francisco to start their first major North American tour and needed to fuel their plane in Winnipeg.
John Einarson, a Winnipeg music historian, said the plane's arrival was tipped off to radio stations in Winnipeg.
"Literally hundreds and hundreds of kids head immediately to the airport," Einarson said.
More than 1,000 Beatles fans in Winnipeg gathered at the Winnipeg airport hoping for a glimpse of the band when the plane carrying them stopped in Winnipeg to refuel on August 18, 1964. (Photo courtesy John Einarson)
The band’s manager, Brian Epstein, coaxed the band to step outside the plane and appear on the tarmac, speaking to several reporters talking with fans.
Einarson said he did tours of music history in Winnipeg, and when sharing the story of the airport stop, he had a woman tell him her story of the Beatles.
Source: winnipeg.ctvnews.ca
