Designer unveils donkey-themed illuminations showpiece

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's new illuminations features has a 1970s-inspired theme

A celebration of Blackpool’s famed beach attractions has been unveiled by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen as part of this year's illuminations display.

The celebrity designer's tableau shows 12 donkeys dressed in 1970s-inspired swimwear parading on a 16ft high platform, beneath a giant ice cream topped with a disco ball.

He said he had created the "celebratory monument" to showcase the donkeys who have been "heroically carrying millions of happy holidaymaking bottoms for over a century and a half".

He said the donkeys were "so synonymous" with Blackpool and the seaside town and "I love the idea of Northern Soul and I love the idea of ice creams and I love the idea of mushing it all together".

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen said he had created his "celebratory monument" to showcase Blackpool's donkeys

"Blackpool design is design you won't find anywhere else in the UK, and it's what inspired Las Vegas. We did it here first," he added.

Llewelyn-Bowen has been designing for the illuminations since 2007 and switched them on in 2022.

This year art students from Blackpool Sixth Form College have also helped with the designing.

BTEC art and design student Lucy Furnevall said: "I remember going to see the illuminations when I was quite little and I'd never really thought much about the design process and I think it's quite interesting for a lot of people to see newer designs coming in."

Other new features include a chandelier causeway in a nod to the chandeliers of the Blackpool tower ballroom.

And, as a tribute to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, all three of the replica Spitfires on Gynn Roundabout will display special markings for the 2024 display.

This year the lights will shine from 30 August until 5 January 2025

Blackpool Illuminations is one of the biggest and longest-running light-based festivals in the world.

It started in 1879 with just a handful of lamps creating what was described at the time as “artificial sunshine”.

It now extends the entire six miles of Promenade, with more than a million LED lights using only electricity from renewable resources.

After the pandemic the display was extended by two months, an exercise that has been repeated for the past four years in order to boost investment into the town.

This year the lights will shine from 30 August until 5 January 2025.

Full details of the line-up and the next personality to pull the famous switch will be revealed over the coming weeks.