101 places to go – Blackpool Illuminations
It’s rare that someone can reach their centenary with more lights on than they had in their youth. Then again, Blackpool has never really held with convention, which makes this week’s 101 places to go one of our most pleasingly unique entries. The fact that it’s a classic British holiday destination also obviously doesn’t hurt!
The modern incarnation of Blackpool Illuminations was birthed in 1912 to celebrate the town’s first royal visit. Princess Louise switched on 10,000 electrical bulbs to celebrate the opening of a new section of promenade. So impressed were locals by the assembled crowds that they managed to convince the powers that be to make the lights an annual event. The rest, as they say, is history, and over the years Blackpool’s largest seasonal attraction has gone from strength to strength, offering a hugely impressive display of light and colour that gets bigger and better each year.
And if you’d like to see just how big, take a look at some of the facts about Blackpool Illuminations below…
• The lights run for 6 miles from Starr Gate to Bispham.
• 45 staff work throughout the year to ensure the lights are working for the 66 nights that the Illuminations run for.
• The cable and wiring used in the Illuminations runs for 200 miles.
• It costs £2,400,000 to stage the lights. There are over 1,000,000 bulbs and the equipment used is worth £10,000,000.
• 3,500,000 visitors are expected to visit the Illuminations this year, and they are expected to spend around £275,000,000.
(from the Blackpool Illuminations website).
If you’d like somewhere to stay when visiting take a look at our featured holiday cottages in Blackpool today.
