These exciting illuminations are the only ones of their kind in the world with an incredible six miles of displays.
The Blackpool illuminations are an iconic part of the town’s heritage with many Brits flocking to the area to see them each year.
Alan Cavill, Director of Communications and Regeneration at Blackpoool Council, 64, said: “The lights are part of what Blackpool is and just like with anywhere you can get a bit complacent about what you’ve got, but actually if you look at lighting festivals across the world, then there isn’t another lighting festival as big as this – we’ve got six miles of illumination, so there’s nowhere else like that at all.
“We would say that about 3.5m people each year see the lights, either driving or walking through and or going on a tram through the lights. And that’s probably worth about £400m to the local economy.
“It costs us about £1.8m each year to put them on. Most of that is about the cost of maintaining, erecting and dismantling them when we take them down.
“The lights are now around 90-95% LED so they’re relatively cheap to run at about £70,000-£80,000 a year, but in terms of the power cost, they’re quite efficient.”
Mr Cavill added: “We had the first switch on in, I think it was 1934 with Lord Derby. We’ve had one ever since, apart from the war years when we didn’t have the lights on. And we like to think of it as the Northern knighthood.
“It should be seen as a privilege to switch the lights on and most people want to do it, who do it – it’s an honour.”
The team behind the illuminations work hard to keep ties with people in the local community who may be impacted by the installation of the lights and to get people involved.
Mr Cavill said: “We engage with the schools and young people in the colleges in some of the installations as part of the main illuminations. School children given out stickers that represent the murals.
“We have a specific issue in relation to properties that are directly affected by the illumination. Some people who are affected don’t object to them being up, but they like us to get them down pretty quickly so that they can get their view back out of their window.”
The lights are an important part of the local community, says Mr Cavill. He said: “Most people don’t think of the lights as something they want to get rid of. They think of them as something that actually extends the season and enables them to have a business which is more successful.”
Ell Gwynne, local resident, has been living in Blackpool for six years, he said the illuminations are definitely part of the reason he moved to the area.
He said: “It was not long after I moved up that we had that whole fiasco with Covid. So I’ve noticed a general decline in tourism since then. I’ve worked in some of the hot spots around Blackpool, like the Tower, the Pleasure Beach, the Pier.
“And you can just see when you work in those kinds of places that it’s just nowhere near as vibrant as it used to be before the pandemic.
“Blackpool has a lovely atmosphere and I think the Illuminations are part of what brings that.”
Mr Gwynne attended the annual switch on event for the first time this year, he said: “It was absolutely amazing. I finished work at Central Pier and I just went straight down the prom to where it was all happening.
“I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was like a crazy street party, like you see in an American movie. Like the roads were closed off and there was just like a sea of people just having a good time.”
He added that he believes people shouldn’t be annoyed at any inconveniences the lights may cause over the few months they are on for as its part of “what Blackpool is all about”.
Mr Gwynne said: “There’s no real argument you can make to say that it’s a bad thing at all.”
Kris Cook, 50, a keen photographer and regular visitor of Blackpool, recently made a trip to see the illuminations to snap some images of the impressive lights.
He said: “They are a big bonus to the town. And without them, I don’t think Blackpool could survive.
“The Illuminations certainly brighten it up a lot. The whole six miles of it is just great to see.
“When they do the illuminations switch on event, it gets very busy. From what I remember there are about 100,000 people who attend the event this year – outside Blackpool Tower was just heaving with people. The event itself was great, there were some famous people singing and fireworks.”
The lights will be on until 5 January 2025.
