How one fan turned Global Beatles Day into a worldwide tradition

In 2009, lifelong Beatles fan Faith Cohen launched Global Beatles Day on a wing and a prayer. A truly grassroots effort, Global Beatles Day has slowly but surely emerged as a bona fide tradition over the years, celebrated annually around the world on June 25.

But 2026 is already shaping up very differently. Just this week, newly minted Apple Corps CEO Tom Greene formally acknowledged Global Beatles Day, writing to Cohen that “more than ever, the message of The Beatles, and of ‘All You Need Is Love,’ speaks to something vital for community, connection and the power of bringing people together. That is what makes Global Beatles Day so special. It asks nothing more than for people, wherever they are, to stop, listen and share a little joy.”

For Cohen, celebrating the joy inherent in the band’s music has been her primary motivation in championing Global Beatles Day. Her love affair with The Beatles began, like so many others, on February 9, 1964, when she tuned into the group’s American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. In August 1965, when she was only six years old, Cohen begged her parents to let her stay up past her bedtime and watch Paul McCartney sing “Yesterday” on Sullivan’s popular variety show.

For Cohen, selecting June 25 was a no-brainer. On that fabled date in 1967, The Beatles performed a live rendition of “All You Need Is Love” on the Our World global simulcast. With an estimated audience of some 350 million people on five continents, it was flower power’s finest moment. “The Beatles brought the world together that day,” Cohen explained to me, “so it made perfect sense to mark it as their day of commemoration — global and universal.”

Hailing from Indianapolis, Cohen credits fellow Hoosier Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., for capturing the simple pleasures that The Beatles’ songbook offers. Writing in “Timequake” (1997), the novelist remarked, “I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, “The Beatles did.”

Want more from culture than just the latest trend? The Swell highlights art made to last.Sign up here

Thanks to Cohen, the world now looks to June 25 as “an annual love letter to The Beatles when we can celebrate their musical achievements and cultural impact.” In her fondest hopes, the commemoration of Global Beatles Day presents an annual opportunity for recommitting ourselves to the band’s ideals, which McCartney sagely explained in the “Anthology” documentary series. “I’m really glad that most of the songs dealt with love, peace and understanding,” he recalled. “There’s hardly any one of them that says: ‘Go on, kids, tell them all to sod off. Leave your parents.’ It’s all very ‘All You Need Is Love’ or John’s ‘Give Peace a Chance.’ There was a good spirit behind it all, which I’m very proud of.”

When it came to making Global Beatles Day a reality in the age of social media, Cohen simply “dreamed it into existence and shared it as if it already were in existence.” To Cohen’s mind, establishing an annual day of remembrance for The Beatles made perfect sense. “I saw these holidays with names like ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day,’ and I thought, ‘Why can’t there be a day dedicated to The Beatles as a way of giving thanks?”

Working with fellow Beatles fan and music industry veteran Cheryl Gregory, Cohen built a website and started spreading the word. Not long afterwards, the pair began hearing from Beatles fans far and wide. Cuban music lovers inaugurated a Beatles film festival, with fans in Italy, Russia and Greece finding their own ways for commemorating The Beatles’ special place in their lives.

To mark the occasion in 2026, Apple Corps will be releasing a colorized version of the band’s performance of “All You Need Is Love” on YouTube so that the world can share in The Beatles’ boundless sense of joy and optimism. For Cohen, observing Global Beatles Day is about celebrating “everything that’s good.” And the beauty of honoring The Beatles each June 25th is that music lovers can celebrate in any fashion, large or small, that they like. As the Global Beatles Day website advises, you can simply relax and listen to your favorite album, or if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you could throw a listening party or learn how to play an instrument. And if you plan to mark the occasion all by your lonesome, that’s alright, too. Crank up some music, enjoy the day, and “sing along just for you.”