Blackpool Illuminations: £13m revamp for town's famous show

The popular light show will be modernised with a range of new attractions

Blackpool's famous illuminations are to be spruced up with a range of sparkling new light features in a £13m upgrade.

A plethora of new attractions will be added to the annual display, which will be extended by two months until 3 January in an effort boost tourism.

The lighting infrastructure will be modernised to ensure it is "efficient and sustainable", a report said.

The upgrade will be partly funded by the town's £39.5m Town Deal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The illuminations are more than a century old, with the first switch-on ceremony held in 1934

Because of Covid, this year's switch-on ceremony was held virtually at Blackpool Tower's ballroom where Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas marked the start of an extended run for the seaside spectacle.

About 1,000 people attended this year's show at the ballroom, which was held indoors for the second year running.

The seafront amusement usually lights up the town from September until early November but will be extended for the first time in its history this year.

Businesses have described the impact of the pandemic as "catastrophic"

A report setting out the details said the aim was to "rejuvenate" the illuminations through "modernisation and innovation".

"This will be done by designing and creating a number of new centrepiece attractions over a five-year period," the report said.

Seven schemes will receive a share of the cash from the government's Town Deal, which was announced in October last year.

The first three submissions for the funding cover £4.5m towards the illuminations revamp, £500,000 for a youth hub, and £7.5m towards new roads and infrastructure at the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone.

Blackpool Council is expected to receive the funding by the end of the year.