'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.

"She said my older sister was babysitting me, and when she heard the Beatles were coming, she abandoned me and went to the airport to stand there and see the Beatles," he said.

The event was also notable in Winnipeg lore for Decker's Dash, in which Bruce Decker broke through the crowd and ran towards the plane, being stopped by the RCMP. Decker was a Winnipeg musician who played with the Deverons, a band that featured Burton Cummings of The Guess Who.

Bruce Decker is seen being carried away by RCMP after he attempted to climb aboard the plane carrying the Beatles when it stopped in Winnipeg on August 18, 1964. (Photo courtesy John Einarson)

Several years ago, Einarson spoke with Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who is writing a multi-volume band history. He told him of the stop in Winnipeg and said Lewisohn asked for anything he had about it, including photos and writing. Einarson said he is curious to see if Winnipeg will make it in the second volume, which is expected to cover 1963-1966.

After roughly 30 minutes, the band had to get back on the plane and depart, but Ringo told those in attendance that the Beatles hoped to return to Winnipeg on their next tour.

However, the Beatles never played in the city, though the Fab Four have performed there as solo acts over the years.

"It's possibly because we didn't have a big enough venue for it," Einarson speculates. "By then, they were playing some pretty big arenas and stadiums and things. And Beatlemania was in full flight at that point. In 1964, the anticipation of the Beatles performing in North America was beyond exciting."