Lightpool Festival 2024

Lightpool Festival 2024 is Blackpool’s annual celebration of light! Enjoy free-to-see entertainment and a whole load of fun!

Enjoy an amazing programme of light-based art installations, lasers, stunning live performances, family-friendly activities, and 3D projection shows.

FREE Lightpool Festival 2024

SAVE THE DATE! October half-term, 18-26 October 2024

• Visit light-based art installations,
• enjoy 3D projection shows,
• spectate or take part in parades,
• watch lasers and stunning live performances,
• take part in family friendly activities,
• learn a lot at educational sessions,
• marvel at local, national and international artists…
• and much more! (including the Illuminated Tram Parade!)

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Things to see at Lightpool Festival 2024

Blackpool is preparing to showcase another extraordinary illuminated wonderland of a festival of light over October half-term.

With the Illuminations season in full swing, the nine days between Friday 18 and Saturday 26 October, see the addition of light installations. They’re coming to Blackpool from the UK, France, Finland and Spain – all as part of the highly-acclaimed Lightpool Festival.

The festival is supported by Arts Council England. See the premiere of at least 15 new artworks never seen before in the UK. Plus spellbinding projection shows and live performance, including the return of the hugely popular Carnival Magic in the iconic Tower Ballroom.

Lightpool is FREE to attend. See some of Blackpool’s most iconic buildings and outdoor spaces transformed during a festival that has grown into one of the UK’s biggest and best!

Tower Projections 2024

Step into a magical world and experience the delightful charm of the Blackpool Tower Projections. Let yourself be captivated by the enchanting display of lights, colours, and music that will transport you to an era full of vintage allure and soothing tunes. Multiple shows start nightly at 6pm.

Live Performances & Events at Lightpool 2024

Carnival Magic – The Blackpool Tower Ballroom – Monday 21 October

An exhilarating menagerie of illuminated Carnival will return to the Tower Ballroom on Monday 21 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’ll be something for all the family.

Tickets are required for Carnival Magic at Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Due to the large quantity of unredeemed tickets at previous events, there is a small administration fee of £2 which is donated to charity. Booking will be at: lightpool.eventbrite.co.uk when available.

Growth – 18, 19 & 20 October 6pm-10pm at the Former George Pub, 174 Central Drive, FY1 5EA

Hear local poet Nathan Parker’s words, as he teams up with visual artists to create a botanical light projection that grows up the wall behind a temporary public square in central Blackpool.

The Illuminated Ice Cream Cart – 18 & 24 October, Outside Grundy Art Gallery

Have you ever wanted to create your own utopia? A community from Grange Park, Blackpool have been exploring just that. Made with locally grown fruit, their community ice cream project will bring a ‘taste of happiness’ to Lightpool.

Glow With The Flow – 21 October at Showtown

Step into a world of vibrant colours and dazzling projections Glow with the Flow comes to town! Come to Showtown for a special afternoon of wonder, featuring interactive touch screen sessions that transform short films into multi-sensory adventures. Read more.

Lightpool Art Trail 2024

Neuron

This light art installation draws inspiration from the fascinating world of neurons and brain connectivity. The primary objective of this artwork is to explore the interaction between light, motion, and human perception through an artistic representation of neurons and their branches. Produced by Spanish artist Juan Fuentes, it allows visitors to actively engage in this unique artistic experience.

A Kind Of Magic

Created by artist Severi Haapala from Finland, A Kind of Magic plays with optical illusion. It’s a modern version of the 19th-century Pepper’s Ghost illusion, a technique used in theatre, cinema, amusement parks and concerts in which an object off-stage is projected so that it appears to be in front of the audience. Watch in wonder as the magic trick is done and revealed at the same time. 

Flux Extended

Flux was commissioned and created in 2021 as part of the Constellations Festival in Metz, France. Its mutant and modular form has since made it an undisputed success.  Over the last three years, Flux has been in constant demand, appearing on music stages and at artistic events across the world. Its kinetic architecture, composed of lines of dynamic light, is motorized and controlled in real time.

Warren Street

This animation brings the magic of nature into unexpected places. Hundreds of light painting exposures are used to create a playful and lively piece where colourful rabbits move across the space and interact with each other.

Somnius

Created by Illumaphonium, a team that has successfully designed, manufactured and toured three large scale interactive musical installations, enjoyed by several million people over four continents. Here, a mesmerising sky of light and sound dances above us in response to our every movement. It presents an unrestricted reimagining of the world.

Supernova

Some stars burn out instead of fading. The super giants destroy themselves in a huge explosion called supernova. For a brief moment, supernovas can be so powerful and luminous that they have been known to outshine entire galaxies. Like the aftermath of an enormous cosmic explosion, the Supernova and surrounding Nova sculptures created by Studio Vertigo will come to life at night in Blackpool’s St John’s Square.

Big Yellow Blobs And The Box That Buzzes

An interactive, immersive artwork designed to transport viewers into an alternate, whimsical reality. This surreal playground is filled with spectacle, illusion, and a hearty dose of silliness. By engaging with the installation through touch, sight and sound, participants become part of the artwork itself.

The World In Your Hand

The World In Your Hands is a surreal, playful exploration of nature. Inspired by Cabinets of Curiosity, manipulated footage morphs a pair of hands into bizarre creatures – squids, sharks, birds and insects. A grotesque, yet disconcertingly, familiar view of the natural world and our connection to it.

Medusae

Are you ready for a fun aquatic adventure? This amazing interactive installation awaits you, featuring the most vibrant and mesmerising jellyfish you’ve ever seen! Immersed in a sea of colours and light shows, this experience is sure to uplift your spirits and dazzle your senses.

Blackpool Wings

Blackpool Illuminations curator Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has conceived this piece to create the ultimate selfie opportunity for Lightpool visitors. Art Nouveau inspired fairy wings take inspiration from the historical links Blackpool has forged with the stained glass industry down the years.

Tiffany Lamp

Re-imagined for Lightpool, this is an original feature from the Tiffany Delights roadway section within Blackpool Illuminations, one of the most expensive and magnificent roadway features designed by Graham Ogden and comprising 24 Tiffany-inspired features. It was first installed in 1999.

Light Sphere

Created by the super talented team at Studio Vertigo, Light Sphere is a geodesic sphere measuring approximately 4m in diameter and constructed from 240 blown stainless steel triangular forms.

Spiro

A family-friendly immersive walk-through sculptural tunnel of light created by Blackpool Illuminations’ own Lightworks team. This 26m-long magical experience is made of individually mapped LEDs that allow complex patterns to dance around the audience.  Get your camera ready and capture the moment.

Aqualux Wall

Aqualux is an eye-opening feature with an educational twist. A 16m by 3m creative lighting installation composed of 48 unfilled water containers, which typically hold 1,000 litres of water each, specially adapted to create a stunning light feature.

…and of course the Tower & Golden Mile Lightshow!

Blackpool Tower is emblazoned with a glowing heart and 25,000 lights on the structure. Join us for sensational light show, as the Tower and Golden Mile are brought to life with a sound and light spectacular.

Plus don’t forget this all happens at the same time…

• The world-famous Blackpool Illuminations,
• And the seafront festival village at Tower Headland opposite The Blackpool Tower.

At Lightpool Festival 2023 –

Art Trail

Every year, Lightpool Festival offers a fantastic free Art Trail suitable for all ages. This self-guided tour transforms outdoor spaces and iconic buildings with spectacular light works.

We went to take a look at one of the huge 2021 installations, on a glorious October day –

World Fireworks Championship Blackpool – Fri 20 October

Fireworks will light up the skies during Lightpool Festival, firing at 8:30pm (weather dependent). More about the World Firework Championships here.

Funding Boost for Lightpool

Have you seen the fabulous news? A funding boost for Lightpool at Blackpool Illuminations was announced in later 2022, as it becomes an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) for the first time. And the designation comes with funding of almost £700k over the next three years!

A grant of £225k a year began in April 2023. This will allow the Illuminations team to develop the work of Lightpool, the award-winning light art festival held each October. It’s part of a £43.5m investment in Levelling Up by the Arts Council. Around 900 organisations are named within the new national portfolio.

Find out more about this funding boost here