Liverpool's Beatles fans have a new reason to plan ahead. Apple Corps has announced a 100,000 square foot Beatles experience for the city, due to open in 2028, and the news landed today.
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The plan is for The Beatles Story to leave its home at Royal Albert Dock, where it has been since 1990, and move into the former St John's Market hall inside the St Johns Shopping Centre, opposite Lime Street station. The market closed in 2024 and the hall has stood empty since. At more than four times the size of the current attraction, the new space will be the first official Beatles experience of its kind in the band's home city. Apple Corps will take over management of the attraction in 2027, and until then the existing site stays open as usual through 2026 and 2027.
The new version is designed as a multi-hour immersive visit, with reconstructed sets and original objects taking visitors from post-war Liverpool through Hamburg, the Cavern Club and Beatlemania, up to the band's international fame. Some of the locations, including Abbey Road Studios and Shea Stadium, will be built with sets and props from Sam Mendes' four-film project about the band, which Sony will release in cinemas worldwide in April 2028. The attraction is due to open shortly after that premiere. Current favourites such as George Harrison's first guitar, John Lennon's glasses and John Lennon's last piano are expected to remain part of the collection.
The project also brings back the St Johns Beacon, the former radio tower that has been inactive since its viewing platform closed in 2024. It will host a Yellow Submarine-themed 360-degree panoramic observation experience, and it will work as a separate attraction, although visitors can combine the two. According to the announcement, every ticket sold for The Beatles Story will also support the Apple Corps Liverpool Trust, which backs emerging Liverpool artists and local cultural projects.
Reactions have been mixed in tone rather than in substance. Paul McCartney spoke of the plans in warm terms, while Ringo Starr said Liverpool was, and still is, a musical city. Mike Jones, a Beatles expert at the University of Liverpool, raised the risk of what he called the "Disneyfication of Liverpool, the Disneyfication of the Beatles", a debate that is likely to keep running as the project takes shape.
For now, The Beatles Story is still open at Royal Albert Dock, and the attraction's website recommends booking a timed slot online in advance. Opening times vary, so it is worth checking the official site before you set off. The new St Johns site is still a couple of years away, so the waterfront version remains the place to visit in the meantime.
Published Date
21 October 2026
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