A weeklong festival celebrating the Beatles in their native Liverpool, England, will climax Aug. 30 with a citywide Yellow Submarine Day, spotlighting the premiere of a new version of the Beatles'-inspired 1968 animated movie "Yellow Submarine."

According to organizers, this year will mark the first time the Fab Four's record company, Apple,

will participate in the Beatle Week festival, which has been held annually

in Liverpool since 1984.

The surviving members of the Beatles, as well as several well-known rock acts, may take part in this year's festival. Among the possible performers are New York hard-rockers Kiss, who are "toying with" the idea of playing an acoustic set Aug. 30. They would appear at the Cavern Club, the storied venue where the Beatles first began to build a fanbase, according to Bill Heckle, director of Cavern City Tours, which organizes Beatle Week.

Three Kiss members are "huge fans" of the Beatles, who are considered to be among the most influential acts in rock history, he said. Bandleaders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley cite Beatles' primary songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney as their biggest influences.

Beatles bassist McCartney, guitarist George Harrison and drummer Ringo Starr may participate in the festival, according to Geoff Baker, a spokesperson for McCartney and the band. However, it's unlikely they will perform at the event, he added.

"[But] there's no plan for them to play as such ... the Beatles will never perform live together as long as John [Lennon] stays dead," Baker said. Lennon was fatally shot outside his Manhattan apartment by a mentally ill fan in 1980.

In addition to the "Yellow Submarine" premiere, various bands, many of them relatively unknown, will play on stages set up throughout Liverpool on Aug. 30 -- one stage will resemble a giant yellow submarine, according to Heckle. A number of acts will exclusively play Beatles songs, he said.

That evening, on the city waterfront, local radio station Radio City will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a large-scale concert that organizers say will feature major pop stars. No artist names have been officially announced, but it will reportedly feature current British stars such as Boyzone and Robbie Williams. The show also will feature a musical tribute to the Beatles and "Yellow Submarine," according to Apple.

The new version of the "Yellow Submarine" movie, with previously unseen footage and remastered sound and video, will be released Sept. 21 on videotape and DVD, according to a statement from Apple Records. The psychedelic classic, which features the Beatles as animated characters, tells the story of the Beatles' quest to save Pepperland from the Blue Meanies. To journey to Pepperland, the Beatles travel in a yellow submarine.

A new "Yellow Submarine" soundtrack album will be released Sept. 14, featuring all 15 Beatles songs included in the movie; the original soundtrack has only six Beatles songs, with the other tracks filled out by producer George Martin's orchestral score. All tracks have been remixed and remastered for the new release, according to Apple.

A previously announced "new" Beatles single featuring John Lennon on vocals will be released in September or October to accompany the soundtrack, although it apparently will not be included on the album. Spokesperson Baker acknowledged that the song, which dates back from the band's recording sessions for "Yellow Submarine," may be a new version of a previously released song, rather than an entirely unfamiliar composition.

"Some of the diehard fans will know the song, but the majority of people won't. [And] I don't think anyone will know the song in this form," Baker said.

He declined to comment on reports that the song is actually an alternate version of "Hey Bulldog," a hard-rocking track from "Yellow Submarine."

The upcoming Beatles single will not be their first "new" track released in the '90s. The surviving members released two songs in 1995 and 1996.

"Free as a Bird" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Real Love" (RealAudio excerpt), which appeared on the first two volumes of the multimillion-selling Anthology series, featured new backing tracks by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr behind solo recordings by Lennon.