Pete Best draws 250k visitors to Beatles-themed festival in Delhi.

Imagine Liverpool, a week long festival celebrating all things Liverpool in India's capital Delhi, has drawn over 250,000 visitors from across the city.

The festival, hosted by the Beatles Story and Merseytravel as part of a major campaign to establish Liverpool as a tourism hotspot for Indians, featured ex-Beatles Pete Best and his band plus the original Beatles Madame Tussauds waxworks.

The festival had special significance for Indian-born Pete Best who hadn't been back to the country since his family left for Liverpool in 1945. He and his band wowed visitors with some early rock ‘n' roll classics and his performance had real meaning for the Delhi crowd as Mona Best, his mother, was born in the city.

Pete Best says: "I left India in 1945 when I was four years old. I have some vague recollections of the place but many vivid memories of the stories my mother, Mona, told me about India. This trip with the Beatles Story was a kind of pilgrimage for me, it was a real thrill to perform in India. We could feel the warmth from the audiences and that made the shows even more enjoyable for us."

"Liverpool is my home town. It's a great city with great people. I'm proud and privileged to be able to travel the world and let people know what a unique and wonderful place Liverpool is."

The Imagine Liverpool festival, which is supported by VisitBritain and The Mersey Partnership, drew media attention from across India. Eight of the major TV channels and all the country's national newspapers covered the event, raising awareness of Liverpool as a major tourist destination amongst millions of Indians.

Clare Ireland, General Manager of the Beatles Story said: "Pete Best is a brilliant ambassador for Liverpool, the crowds loved him and were singing and dancing to his music. Pete even inspired our Indian visitors to begin an impromptu concert of their own, singing Beatles songs the day after the band had finished playing."

"This event attracted over 250,000 visitors and the media coverage it gained has confirmed that Beatlemania is alive and well in India. We want to make sure that any Indians visiting London also include Liverpool in their trip. Indian tourism has great potential for Liverpool's economy and the Imagine Liverpool festival is just the start of our tourism campaign in the country. We are now working with VisitBritain on phase two of our campaign which will have both a strong football and Beatles flavour."

Media enquiries: Rowan Atkins M: 07834 158 725 E: rowan@rowanatkins.co.uk