The FabFest Story & Tosco Music
Community Through Music
INSPIRING GENERATIONS & CULTURES TO... COME TOGETHER!
FabFest-Charlotte’s Beatles Festival is presented by the nonprofit organization Tosco Music, led by founder and Executive Director John Tosco. A lifelong fan, John Tosco fell in love with the Beatles when he was 5 years old and saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show. He used to play “She Loves You” on a cardboard guitar in a friend’s basement, lip-synching and strumming the air.
The music of the Beatles inspired John's career as a musician and guitar teacher and convener of music gatherings that began in his living room and expanded to professional theater venues over the years. John Tosco has been presenting Tosco Music Parties (TMPs) in Charlotte for 35 years. Even after 100 TMPs (as of April 2022), every Tosco Music Party is still a completely unique live music experience with a wide variety of local and regional performers plus audience singalongs throughout the night led by John Tosco and the TMP House Band and Singalong Choir.
Tosco Music became a 501c3 nonprofit organization in 1999 that builds community through music in Charlotte, with events (TMPs, FabFest) and music outreach programs like live music at senior communities and youth music scholarships. Learn more about Tosco Music's nonprofit history and impact.
Introduced in 2004, Tosco Music Beatles Tribute (TMBT) quickly became Tosco Music’s most beloved and well-attended event, a similar format to TMPs but all Beatles songs! Each TMBT is a showcase of local and Charlotte-regional musicians and bands of all ages and genres, all performing classic and re-imagined versions of the music of the Fab Four. Plus, the most enthusiastic audience singalongs you may ever encounter!
In 2019, Tosco Music expanded the popular evening beyond a single-night party to a full weekend event. FabFest - Charlotte Beatles Festival now offers the largest Beatles event in the Southeast, a community festival that brings generations and cultures together through the music of the Beatles. The weekend pairs our unique Friday evening concert at the 1,200-seat Knight Theater with FabFest Daytime, a full Saturday of live music on two stages plus, speakers and activities for all ages at CPCC’s Parr Center.
In October 2024, Tosco Music celebrated our 5th annual FabFest, and Tosco Music Beatles Tribute, the popular Charlotte traditon that inspired the festival, celebrated its 20th Anniversary! See a photo history of the festival in galleries.
In 2025, FabFest Daytime is FREE for the first time to make it possible for more families of all backgrounds to come enjoy and participate in this unique community festival together! "I hope someday you'll join us... and the world will live as one."
FabFest Daytime offers plenty of opportunities for community participation to help everyone come together across generations and cultures and share our own creativity inspired by the music of The Beatles. Artists of all mediums and ages exhibit their own visual tributes to the legacy of the Beatles in the Beatles Art Contest, and area musicians perform at the Beatles Open Mic and Beatles Cover Song Contest. FabFest Daytime is an inclusive family-friendly experience with two live stages, a Family Fun Room, rare Beatles video, an author’s panel, memorabilia, Beatles Marketplace, Beatles Yoga, outdoor games, food trucks and more - all FREE!
FabFest is supported by the City of Charlotte, Tosco Music Living Room Society, and 2025 Presenting Sponsor CG Financial Services. FabFest sponsorships support Tosco Music’s nonprofit programs, and you can too! Learn more at toscomusic.org