LIVERPOOL, England, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- The International Guitar Festival of Great Britain attracted its highest attendance ever, organizers say.
The British festival, founded by Rob Smith in 1989, ended its run Sunday but enjoyed several sold-out shows and a 40 percent increase in attendance thanks in part to its special guest, former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, the Liverpool Daily Post said.
"This year we were able to program earlier and secure more, and bigger, acts," Smith said. "As an 18th birthday present, it cold not have been better."
Smith added that the festival has surprisingly managed to expand beyond Britain's borders, prompting the festival to take on its international title in 1990.
"Although we were hopeful that the festival would be successful and put Wirral on the map," Smith said of the British borough in which the festival originated, "I don't think that we were quite prepared for the enthusiasm of the players, audiences and journalists in supporting what we were trying to achieve."
