It’s the show that everyone loves. Here’s the date for the Blackpool Illuminations 2023 Switch On – kicking off the season in style! Don’t miss it!
Blackpool Illuminations Switch On 2023 – FRIDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2023
Important Information!
- Places to park in Blackpool – arrive early it will be BUSY!
- Completely FREE no tickets/wristbands needed this year!
- Build up from 7pm with music/entertainment at Tower Festival Headland
- Parade starts from 7.30pm from Central Pier
- Main celebrations at Festival Headland from 8-9.30pm approx
- Lights Switched On by Sophie Ellis Bextor at approx 9pm
- NEW Illuminations this year include tableaux and Spitfire Island!
- The Lights shine daily from 1 September 2023 until 1 January 2024!
- Lightpool Festival takes place at October half-term, from 20-28 October
Sophie Ellis-Bextor to Switch On the Blackpool Illuminations 2023
One of the UK’s best-loved music stars is to switch on the Lights this year, fresh from her appearance on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage. On the back of the release of her brand new studio album, singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor will perform on the Tower Festival Headland. The big events is Friday 1 September from around 7pm when the switch will be pulled to trigger four months of Illuminations.
Her guest appearance is the finale of a spectacular free family event. Enjoy a Nickelodeon float parade, live entertainment, light show and fireworks.
Sophie shot to fame as a vocalist on Spiller’s huge number one single, Groovejet followed by worldwide hit, Murder On The Dancefloor. Her debut solo album, Read My Lips, sold more than two million copies.
Chart Topping
She has since released seven studio albums, including her latest, HANA, which has already charted in the top 10 and enjoyed more than a million streams within weeks of its release. Earlier this year, she performed her first single from the new album, Breaking The Circle, alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra for an exclusive BBC Radio 2 Piano Session.
In 2020, her Kitchen Discos were phenomenally successful, created at home during lockdown. Performed with her five sons, recorded by her husband, musician Richard Jones, and shared on Instagram. They were watched and enjoyed by 40 million people around the world. That resulted in a regular Radio 2 show as well as the release of her first live album: Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Kitchen Disco: Live From The London Palladium.
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In November 2021, she embarked on a 24-hour Kitchen Disco Danceathon for Children In Need, raising more than £1m. This winter, Sophie will be taking her Christmas Kitchen Disco live show on a UK tour.
Sophie said: “I’m so excited to be coming back to Blackpool to perform a few of my favourite tracks and to switch on the iconic Blackpool Illuminations! I can’t wait to see you all there!”
Nickelodeon Grand Parade To Celebrate Blackpool Illuminations Switch-On 2023
The Blackpool Illuminations will begin with an amazing FREE to watch event this year! Including a spectacular float parade with marching bands and dancers, plus a family party with music and entertainment leading up to the BIG celebrity Switch On moment!
The build-up will commence from 7pm, with the float parade scheduled to start around 7.30pm. The main celebrations on the Tower Festival Headland will take place between approximately 8pm and 9.30pm (Note: Times could be subject to change so check for updates on the www.visitblackpool.com website).
The Nickelodeon Grand Parade, featuring the stars of the world’s favourite children’s TV channel, will be staged along the Golden Mile on the evening of Friday 1 September.
Starting from Central Pier, the parade will feature larger-than-life characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol, Baby Shark, Monsters High and Transformers. They’ll be joined by around 100 dancers, musicians and street performers, including Lancashire’s own 2nd Rossendale Scout Group Band. They’re a hugely talented group of young musicians who’ve performed all over the UK, including an appearance at Windsor Castle in front of the Queen.
Parade and Party Time!
The parade will make its way to Tower Festival Headland for a free family party including live music and entertainment leading up to the special moment when a guest celebrity (still to be announced) will switch on the famous lights. This marks the start of a four-month Illuminations season.
A specially-commissioned sound and light show will follow on The Blackpool Tower, synchronised with LED wristbands given out to spectators. The Switch On moment will be topped off with a fireworks finale over the seafront.
This whole event is free to access with no tickets required. The build-up will commence from 7pm, with the float parade scheduled to start around 7.30pm. The main celebrations on the Tower Festival Headland will take place between approximately 8pm and 9.30pm (Note: Times could be subject to change so check for updates on the www.visitblackpool.com website).
More details on the parade, the live entertainment and, of course who will switch on this year’s Illuminations will be revealed in the coming weeks.
No Tickets Needed!
The whole event is FREE to access with no tickets required. And it’s the first return to the outdoors after three years of being staged indoors due to pandemic restrictions.
Thousands of people still gathered on the Tower Festival Headland to watch it on a screen, and the previous year even when there was no screen. So this year everyone will get a chance to see the Switch-On moment and enjoy what promises to be a fantastic free party.
Once again the Illuminations will be extended by two months this year, shining nightly until January 1, 2024. Following the launch of the giant Odyssey installation during 2022, the Illuminations manufacturing team are working on three brand new light installations for the coming season.
The Illuminations date back to 1912, but the tradition of a special switch on ceremony ‘only’ began in 1934.
Book Hotel accommodation for Switch On 2022
Book your hotel accommodation for Switch on with the Visit Fylde Coast and StayBlackpool guide. Know that you’ll have a great place to stay while you enjoy this event. Find Trusted accommodation, right here on this page.
All StayBlackpool properties listed on the Visit Fylde Coast websites are annually inspected. This means that you can book with confidence, safe in the knowledge of a great stay.
Bookings from these sites are also ultra-low or zero commission. This means that more of the money from your booking helps to support the local economy.
- Browse our accommodation guide where you can also search and book
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We Need Your Help
We Need Your Help
What time are the illumination fireworks due on switch in night? I need to get the dog tucked up!
Usually when the lights are Switched On – about 9pm
I hope 2023 illuminations is not extended until January again. No thought for locals to get around without getting stuck in slow moving traffic. Even other roads are busier because all traffic not wanting to get stuck doing 5mph are using the other roads. So Blackpool council, spare a thought for locals for a change
On the other hand, a longer season creates more visitors who spend more money and create more employment and opportunities for local people…
Agree and Blackpool Transport (Council Owned) have cut back on bus services after 10pm which are important for workers in hospitality to get home. Shame on you Blackpool Council.