30th August 2024 - 5th January 2025
Blackpool Illuminations LightPool Festival
20th October to 28th October 2023
LightPool
Blackpool´s award winning LightPool Festival is back for 2023! The festival will be a mix of live performance and light based art installations. The displays are FREE and enable visitors to celebrate Light with new levels of interaction.
Below is the 2023 LightPool Festival guide.
The LightPool Festival is back, bigger and more spectacular than ever. With many different events over 9 days it's going to be amazing.
Light Art Trail
Friday 20th October to Saturday 28th October
Blackpool will become an artistic playground, where outdoor spaces and iconic buildings will be enchanted with mesmerising light works. Brace yourself for a visual extravaganza featuring electrifying world and UK premieres. Don't miss this chance to step into a world where imagination meets illumination!
Carnival Magic
Monday 23rd October - The Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
An exhilarating menagerie of illuminated Carnival will return to the Tower Ballroom on Monday 23 rd October for an electrifying static showcase of music, puppetry and dance. Internationally recognised Carnival performers will present a showstopper over 30 minutes, bringing a diverse melting pot of Carnival magic.
From giant hand-crafted puppets to stunning illuminated dancers, there will be something for all the family.
Butterfly Ball with Silent Disco
Saturday 28th October - Winter Gardens
Brand new for Lightpool Festival, The Butterfly Ball takes flight on Saturday 28 th October. Join us for a magical mix of music, entertainment and fun and games to entertain all ages. Dress to impress in your colourful butterfly outfit or join one of our craft workshops to make your own custom butterfly accessories.
The Butterfly Ball will also feature a Silent Disco with three different music choices playing continuously throughout the night. Catering for all music tastes young and old, you’re bound to find a track you want to dance to!
Sideshows & Curios
Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd October - The Old Electric
Embark on a captivating journey at The Old Electric, where you'll be immersed in an innovative and interactive walkabout experience. Uncover the intriguing world of the Victorian era and their endless fascination with peculiarities. Through the power of live storytelling, discover the surprising connections between their curiosities and our modern society. Step into the past and witness the threads that still bind us today.
The Grundy at Lightpool
Friday 20th October to Saturday 16th December Grundy Art Gallery - Tues-Sat 10am to 4:45pm
Work by internationally recognised artists, Laura Daly, Shezad Dawood, and RA Walden presented onsite at the Grundy and offsite via Augmented Reality. These neon and new media works explore time, tides and the site of lost bandstands. Shezad Dawood and RA Walden are presented as part of Hybrid Futures. Laura Daly is presented in collaboration with The University of Salford Art Collection.
World Fireworks Championship Blackpool
Friday 20th October - Tower Festival Headland
Get ready for the grand finale of the World Fireworks Championship in Blackpool! Witness a mesmerising display as the night sky ignites on Saturday 20 October. It's a night of pure awe and wonder you won't want to miss!
Tower Projections 1st September to 1st January 2024
From festive-filled stories to sci-fi projections that will catapult you to another world, these free-to-watch, digitally-mapped shows are a mesmerising treat for the eyes. Look out for the exclusive projection shows during Lightpool Festival and watch up close as the Tower is brought to life in the magical Tower Light Show.
Nickelodeon Projection Show
After it made its grand premiere at the Blackpool Illuminations Switch-On event, don't miss the new Nickelodeon Tower Projection Show, running nightly until 1 January, 2024.
Watch in awe as The Blackpool Tower transforms into a playground for the beloved stars of Nickelodeon. Look out for SpongeBob SquarePants as he takes the Tower under the sea in an aquatic adventure; join Paw Patrol on a mission to safeguard our seaside town; keep an eye out for Transformers as they dramatically burst onto the scene; and get ready for ghouls galore at Monster High as the most famous monsters showcase their sass.
To top it all off, the Tower will be covered in a generous helping of Nickelodeon's trademark slime, transforming this projection show into a brilliantly colourful homage to the world’s favourite children’s TV channel.
Down The Rabbit Hole
Down the Rabbit Hole tells the story of an astronaut exploring new worlds. The show explores a fantasy based loosely upon a remarkable mission of determination and ambition. This experience draws the audience into worlds without gravity: beautiful, fantastic and full of uncertainty.
This incredible show was created by Czech-based digital art collective The Macula, an award-winning company formed in 2007. The team have dazzled audiences throughout Europe with their shows, gaining great acclaim in the UK with Luminous Flux to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Liverpool’s Liver Building.
Enchanted Blackpool
Enchanted Blackpool was created by Cecile Llewelyn-Bowen, the daughter of Illuminations Curator Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Cecile is a film-maker and brought to life designs created by her father in this show.
A flurry of cute characters and lavish backdrops delight the show’s main character, a woman who has wandered into this magical world as she journeys from under the sea to the opulent Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
Sooty
The Sooty Projection Show is a short film celebrating Sooty’s 70th Birthday with an introduction from Sooty himself! We can’t wait to see Sooty and friends on The Blackpool Tower!
Roll up, roll up for Circus250!
The Circus 250 Projection show is celebrating the vast history of circus and, more specifically, The Blackpool Tower Circus. The show will focus on fond memories, sensational acts and larger than life characters from past and present who have inspired entertainment in Blackpool and the rest of the world.
History of Blackpool
This projection mapping show takes you through a nostalgic journey of Blackpool's time gone by.
Dance
The projection mapping show celebrates the history of dance in Blackpool. Join in on the Comedy Carpet!
Exclusive to Lightpool Festival - 20th to 28th October
The Blackpool Tower Projections show is an unforgettable experience that transforms the Blackpool Tower into a dazzling display of light, colour, and sound.
The projection shows use innovative multimedia technology that will leave you dazzled and mesmerized by an explosion of vibrant colours and magnificent musical accompaniments. You will be enthralled by the captivating imagery that pays tribute to the rich heritage of Blackpool, and transports us to a world of wonder and enchantment with music and imagery that celebrates Blackpool in a truly unique way!
Allow yourself to be swept away and transported to a world of pure wonder and amazement.
