World First: Illuminated Trams on Parade!
The world’s first illuminated tram parade will be staged in Blackpool this October as part of a three-day festival of free entertainment.
The Festival@LightPool event will be held on and around the Tower Festival Headland from Wednesday 25 to Friday 27 October and will feature spectacular live entertainment between 5pm and 7pm each night.
On all three nights, visitors will be able to watch performances of Spark! by Worldbeaters Music – a unique and thrilling show that combines high-impact drumming, superb choreography and stunning lighting design.
Visitors will also be able to see for the first time in Blackpool, the incredible talents of AFISHAL. He will perform live his own re-mixes of commercial dance tracks using specially-engineered drums. Not only will you be able to hear the music, but you will also see it “projected” on the front of The Blackpool Tower buildings. It is a show that is not to be missed!
Then, for one night only on Thursday 26th October, Blackpool’s iconic collection of illuminated heritage trams will parade along the promenade for the first time in the tramway’s glorious history.
The illuminated tram parade, featuring the battleship HMS Blackpool, the lottery funded Western Train and the Fisherman’s Friend Trawler, will set off from the Pleasure Beach tram loop at around 5pm, and will then travel along the tramway to Bispham before returning to terminate at Blackpool Pleasure Beach around 75 minutes later.
The parade will visibly slow as it approaches Blackpool Tower to give spectators an opportunity for an unmissable photo and video opportunity.
For those who want to be a part of the parade, there will be a limited number of tickets available for visitors to travel on the trams during the parade.
Tickets are just £8 adult, £4 child or £20 for a family of 4. Tickets can be purchased in advance by phone on 01253 209521 or email [email protected] (transactions include a £1 booking fee). Once the parade is over, the illuminated trams will be running as normal, tickets for these tours are on a first come, first served basis and you must queue at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach tram stop on the night.
The three-day festival will be complemented by the free 3D LightPool shows which will be projected on to the front of The Blackpool Tower building throughout Illuminations season between September 1 and November 5.
Bryan Lindop, Head of Heritage at Blackpool Transport said, “The Illuminated Feature Trams are entirely unique to Blackpool and although they run throughout the illuminations every year, we have never tackled the challenge of operating them all together in convoy before. The opportunity to work in partnership with VisitBlackpool and achieve another amazing first for our wonderful resort was just too exciting an opportunity to miss.
“Every year, the Lightpool Festival gets even more dynamic and spectacular and my team and I are proud to be taking part. Tickets for the processional tour are likely to sell fast, so please book early to avoid disappointment.”
Cllr Campbell, Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council said: “We are delighted to be working with Blackpool Transport on a unique spectacle during the October half-term holiday. The festival will bring internationally-acclaimed live performers to the Promenade and the tram parade itself will be a sight not to be missed.
“We hope that the free entertainment, coupled with the extraordinary LightPool projections on the front of Blackpool Tower will encourage visitors to get out of their vehicles and come and see another side to Blackpool’s traditional Illuminations and experience all that the resort has to offer.”
This year’s LightPool projections will be launched in the w/c September 4 and will feature five individual shows including the three headline shows – Down the Rabbit Hole, Chasing Stars (featuring astronaut Tim Peake) and Enchanted Blackpool.
The ideal viewing area to watch the shows is the Comedy Carpet – the area of the Promenade in front of The Blackpool Tower.
The Blackpool Illuminations and LightPool run from 1st September to the 5th November. For more information on the Illuminations, LightPool show times and the Festival@Lightpool, go to www.visitblackpool.com/illuminations
For a link to last year’s LightPool Festival video click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0BA6dlS0lA&index=5&list=PLm525PkbinDHdulFBYBpo0E0bzogZlUyR