It’s not often you can have a family day out for free. An evening crawl through the Blackpool Illuminations is one of those rare British institutions which offers a great evening out for free, although a donation in the bucket is always appreciated. Apart from the parking, fish and chips all round and a detour into the funfair, you could theoretically enjoy this “Greatest show on Earth” without a ticket. For northerners, like myself, it is a definite date on the annual calendar. Southerners wonder what the heck we’re raving about. Lights? So what!!
Blackpool promenade has been bathed in colour almost every autumn since 1879 and continues to put on a dazzling display of winking, blinking lights, which create images of movement, recreate characters or just look pretty, lighting up the otherwise grey chill of an autumn night in Lancashire. Look for the Dr Who section, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen’s flamboyant “Decodance” and the new additions for 2010.
Over the years there has been some concession towards the greener issues of conservation and energy efficiency. LED technology, wind turbines and low voltage bulbs are now used where possible, but it’s hard to measure carbon emissions against all those smiles on faces young and old.
This year the illuminations run for 66 nights from September 3 to November 7, 2010. The Big Switch On at around 9pm will be by Robbie Williams and the Voice of modern opera, Russell Williams, will be singing in his home county of Lancashire. The Wanted will be hitting the beach with their #1 hit single “All Time Low” along with a host of other stars performing in the arena. Cheapskates will be out on St Chad’s Headland where the show can be enjoyed for free on the big screen.
For those who like fun facts here’s a few to enjoy:
The first Blackpool illuminations consisted of 8 arc lamps, back in 1879 – a year before Edison invented the first electric light bulb!
100,000 people turned up to the first switch on – cleverly promoted as “artificial sunshine”.
The display has more than a million lamps and 500 floodlights and spots.
It takes 22 weeks to set up the illuminations and 9 weeks to dismantle them.
The festoon strips decorating the streets run for 100 miles!
….with 200 miles of cable and wiring
The illuminations cost £2.4 million to stage.
Before you jump in the car, checkout the weather on Blackpool’s seafront with this Blackpool weather webcam.
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