PNE banks on $100 million worth of Beatles memorabilia to boost attendance
The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) is banking on a priceless collection of Beatles memorabilia – most of it never before shown to the public – to boost what has been sagging attendance for its annual summer fair.
“The collection is probably worth about $100 million but it’s hard to put a price on it,” PNE spokeswoman Laura Ballance told Business in Vancouver.
“Jim Pattison bought John Lennon’s Rolls Royce in the 1980s for $2.5 million and that’s in our display of more than 200 items – many of them never seen before on display. Who knows what that car would sell for at auction today.”
The 105th annual Fair at the PNE opens August 22, which will be the 51st anniversary of the Beatles’ 1964 concert at Empire Stadium on the PNE grounds.
Five avid collectors of Beatles memorabilia recently came together and decided to pool their collections to start showing them in museums. The PNE was in discussions with that quintet’s exhibit company and it was agreed that the Fair at the PNE could be the first place where the items would be shown, Ballance said.
The items, which are part of an exhibit named the Magical Mystery Tour, a Beatles Memorabilia Exhibition, will then head on a five-year museum tour.
By: Glen Korstrom
Source: Business in Vancouver
