Lightpool Festival

LightPool Festival at Blackpool Promenade, 14–29 October 2022, free entry - Visit now

Lightpool is back to provide luminary wonder in all its forms across Blackpool town centre during the October half-term. People have flocked to Blackpool for ‘the lights’ ever since 1879 when eight electric arc lamps lit up the promenade for the first time to general awe and wonder. Today the annual Illuminations display has an accompanying festival of spectacular live performance, light-based art installations, and Light Odyssey, a special collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic.

In recent years, Carnival of the Lights saw a parade of illuminated trams head out in convoy along the seafront culminating in a trademark spectacular choreographed show in front of the Tower by illuminated drummers Spark! This year will see the return of the extraordinary Carnival Magic show in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom and the Illuminated Tram Parade.

Visitors to The Lightpool will also be able to experience two free firework displays, 3D projection shows on The Blackpool Tower building, a festival village on the Tower Festival Headland, and the planned unveiling of Odyssey, the biggest light installation ever built at the Illuminations own manufacturing facility

Lightpool’s LightArt trail is the place to see the best new luminary art. Past years have seen the Tower Ballroom lit up by Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon. You could spot Bob and Roberta Smith’s illuminated words in Art Is Your Human Right and play in Mads Christensen’s Cathedral of Mirrors, Megan Fell’s Colour Curiosity and Gillian Hobson’s Mirror Stage across the town.

This year, for the first time, the Art Trail is split into fives zones, so put on some comfortable walking shoes and immerse yourself in the wonders of light, from The Nature Takeover to the fluttering butterflies at the Blackpool Grand Theatre, dance to the The Blackpool Way and see some illuminated retro favourites.

Save some energy for the festival’s trademark grand finale. Highlights from previous years included Belgian pyrotechnic pacesetters Pyronix performed their only UK date this year in St John’s Square. Combining physical performance (martial arts, dance and acrobatics) and technology (LED, videomapping and multimedia), there were some serious big wows.

Lightpool’s the place to head for some October brilliance. With high spec projections and festival village, we love the total takeover of this iconic seaside town.