The Cavern Club Announces Partnership with National Museums Liverpool for Landmark 70th Anniversary Exhibition
Thursday, 16 July 2026
Year-long celebrations to honour the past, present and future of Liverpool’s most iconic music venue
Liverpool, 16 July 2026 – The Cavern Club is proud to announce a major new partnership with National Museums Liverpool (NML) on a landmark exhibition celebrating the venue’s 70th anniversary in 2027.
Opening at the Museum of Liverpool on 16 January 2027 – exactly 70 years to the day since The Cavern Club first opened its doors on Mathew Street – 70 Years of The Cavern Club will tell the remarkable story of a venue that has become one of the most famous music clubs in the world.
Developed in partnership with National Museums Liverpool, the exhibition will explore The Cavern’s extraordinary journey from a post-war jazz cellar to an internationally recognised cultural landmark, celebrating not only its unique place in music history but also its enduring role as a thriving live music venue today.
The collaboration represents a significant moment in The Cavern Club’s history, bringing together one of the UK’s leading museum organisations and one of the world’s most celebrated music venues to showcase a story that has captivated generations of music fans.
Karen O’Rourke, Curator of Sport, Music and Performance at Museum of Liverpool, said:
“The Cavern Club is so much more than the dank basement where The Beatles were discovered, it’s a cellar full of noise that has shaped Liverpool’s identity for seventy years. This exhibition is our chance to tell that fuller story: the rise, the fall, the emotion, the people and its life today as a hard-working venue. We want visitors to leave our exhibition feeling the Cavern Club the way generations from across the globe have felt it, not as a historic place, but as a living, breathing part of our amazing city.”
A Year of Celebration
The exhibition will form part of a wider programme of celebrations planned throughout 2027 as The Cavern Club marks its milestone 70th anniversary.
Across the year, the venue will celebrate seven decades of unforgettable live music, iconic performances and cultural impact, while looking firmly towards the future. As visitors would expect from a venue synonymous with live music, the anniversary year will feature a rich programme celebrating the artists, audiences and communities that have shaped The Cavern’s story and continue to define its future.
While full details of the anniversary programme will be revealed in due course, music will remain at the heart of the celebrations, reflecting The Cavern’s unique ability to honour its heritage while continuing to champion emerging talent and new generations of music fans.
A Story Bigger Than Music
From its opening in 1957 as a jazz club founded by Alan Sytner, through the Merseybeat explosion of the 1960s and The Beatles’ formative performances beneath its famous brick arches, The Cavern Club has become much more than a music venue.
Today, it stands as a symbol of Liverpool’s creativity, resilience and global cultural influence, welcoming over 800,000 visitors each year from across the world.
The new exhibition will offer audiences an opportunity to experience this story in unprecedented depth, bringing together memories, music, artefacts and personal accounts that chart the evolution of both The Cavern Club and the city it helped place firmly on the global cultural map.
Julia Baird, John Lennon’s sister and Cavern co-owner added:
“My brother John always said his happiest times as a band were playing in the Cavern. He wasn’t alone in his love of this wonderful club and what a great opportunity to get those stories and memories together in one place. Here’s to another seventy years!”
The Cavern Club encourages music fans, visitors and supporters from around the world to discover more about 70 Years of The Cavern Club and begin planning their visit.
The exhibition will run at the Museum of Liverpool from 16 January to 31 October 2027.
For more information and exhibition updates, visit National Museums Liverpool website