Colors of Blackpool - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Vast majority of travelers visit Blackpool during the days of the world famous festival Blackpool Illuminations. The festival starts in the beginning of September and lasts 66 days. Without a doubt, this is the largest festival of illumination in the world. Moreover, it’s absolutely free to enter. During 66 days the streets of Blackpool are transformed into fabulous alleys, which are illuminated by thousands of lights and colored bulbs. The main streets of the city are decorated with unusual statues and exhibitions, decorated with garlands of small bulbs. During the festival visitors will participate in numerous very interesting events - musical performances, enchanting light shows and demonstrations of the latest developments in the area of 3-D illumination.

The total length of streets, which are used in this large-scale celebration, is approximately ten kilometers. In order to see all exhibits, guests of the festival will need more than one day. Besides the standard exposition different districts of the city also attract visitors by a huge selection of various interesting objects. For example, tourists traditionally enjoy riding around the city in trams and buses decorated with garlands. For the first time Blackpool Illuminations festival was held back in 1879. Of course, at that time the festival was much smaller and less famous. Nowadays designers of laser projections do not cease to amaze visitors with their original projects.

According to a tradition, starting from 1934 a famous musician or an actor has been invited to the celebration in order to hold an opening ceremony. Thus, starting from early morning the city hosts various concerts and performances, and in the evening everyone gathers in order to see the ceremony «Switch On». A special guest switches a toggle, and the city erupts with thousands of bright lights, which form various compositions of most unbelievable shapes and colors. A specially designed square Swich On Arena is known as the main venue of the celebration. Here we must note that during its long and respectful history the festival has managed to get a lot of fans. Many travelers come to Blackpool every year just to participate in this amazing celebration. In order not to disappoint their regular visitors, the organizers of the festival add new installations and light figures every year. This is the main reason why every year the length of the so called "laser streets" only increases. In the nearest future this truly priceless exhibition will be moved to a new arena - New Tower Festival Headland. Travelers are advised to visit the city during the festival called Blackpool Illuminations. On this time of a year Blackpool turns into a real fairytale, which is full of mystery and enchantment. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Blackpool can be called the Dance Capital of the United Kingdom, as five major dance festivals take place here, as well as many smaller events of this kind. The season opens with Junior Dance Festival - a competition between young participants that is held in April (usually at the beginning of the month, the dates depend on the beginning of the Easter celebration) in The Blackpool Tower. Young talents compete in such categories as "Ballroom Dancing" and "Latin"; different age groups are also taken into account. Contestants come from all over the world.

The most popular is Blackpool Dance Festival. In addition, this is the longest festival of its kind in the UK (it lasts for 8 days, beginning in late May and ending in early June). The event takes place in Empress Ballroom, which is located in Winter Gardens. Both amateurs and professionals compete here, and the theme of the competition is Latin dances. Blackpool Freestyle Championship is held in the same place, in Empress Ballroom, and its time is mid-October. Both couples and solo dancers compete here, there are also special competitions between teams.

Blackpool Sequence Dance Festival is dedicated to classical, Latin and modern dances. The venue is Empress Ballroom, and the date falls on the end of October. Both children and adults are participants. The dancing season ends when the time for British National Dance Championships comes. The championships are held in mid-November. Here, dancers of absolutely all ages compete in the genre of "Latin dances", a certain day is assigned for each age category. The very same Empress Ballroom serves as the venue.

In early August, Blackpool is visited by all who are rebellious by their nature and do not want to put up with imposed standards - at this time, there is Rebellion Festival, the largest independent event in the world of punk rock and alternative metal. The event lasts 4 days, during which all its visitors become one big family. It's not easy to meet unfamiliar names among the festival's headliners, as its organizers try to surprise the audience by inviting eminent rebellious artists to perform on the stages of Winter Gardens and Blackpool Ice Arena.

A festival with the simple name of Blackpool Festival is a real fun that can only happen in the summer. Its venue is Tower Festival Headland, and time - the beginning of July. The event's headliners are always famous musicians, but the festival's main thing is that their names are kept secret until the last minute. This is done in order to prepare an unexpected surprise for visitors who would be totally excited about their favorite performer's warming up the crowd as a headliner.

If you are lucky enough to visit the city in mid-March, you can witness Gin Festival Blackpool. Ballroom Tower serves as its primary venue. The sea of gin, music, entertainment, which seem to flow like a river - this is what distinguishes this festival. This is an excellent opportunity to charge positive energy for a long time. Another interesting event that gives a lot of positive emotions is Blackpool Air Show, which takes place in the middle of August on Blackpool promenade. This is an unimaginable sight, the very observation of which is a pleasure. The festival will particularly appeal to those who are enthusiastic about flying machines. And, of course, to fans of scenic shows.

But those who love retro cars should definitely attend Classic Car Show. The exhibition is held in late August in Italian Gardens Stanley Park. In total, about 150 cars are shown during this time, and it's practically impossible to go around the whole exhibition and look at all the vehicles in one day. The event takes place in early August. And in the middle of June, there is such an event as Blackpool Armed Forces Week. The fact is that Blackpool is known as a city with a large military base, and even when the weapons are already outdated, it is still a great opportunity to demonstrate it. The spectacle is really impressive, especially for the youngest tourists who will remember the day when they saw such a beauty forever. The venue is Blackpool Town Hall.