The Festival@LightPool Announces Spectacular Programme for 2017!
21 September 2017
by Visit Blackpool
The Festival@LightPool is back for 2017 with a spectacular programme of live entertainment.
This year’s free festival will take place during October half-term between 17:00 - 19:00 on Wednesday 25th, Thursday 26th and Friday 27th October with performances on the Tower Festival Headland and Blackpool Town Centre.
On all three nights, visitors will be able to watch Spark! by Worldbeaters Music - a unique and thrilling show that combines high-impact drumming, superb choreography and stunning lighting design.
Festival goers will also be able to see for the first time in Blackpool, the incredible talents of AFISHAL. He will perform live in front of The Blackpool Tower with his own re-mixes of commercial dance tracks using the TREMOR, a visual DJ-rig and drum kit he designed and built himself.
The Thursday night will see the first Carnival of the Lights, with Blackpool’s three illuminated trams parading in convey for the first time, with an illuminated pageant along the promenade.
Thanks to public funding from Arts Council England, LeftCoast and the Coasters programme, further talent has been added to the programme including a performance of Sense of Unity, a new collaboration between Worldbeaters Music and puppet company DUNDU, bringing together the high-energy sounds of Worldbeaters with illuminated puppets, meeting for the first time.
The final night of the festival will see a brand new production of ‘Amor’ by Bilbobasso, the international company that brought an explosive mix of fire, passion, street theatre and dance to last year’s festival.
The full programme (with approximate start times and locations)* now comprises:
Wednesday, 25th October:
17:00: Sense of Unity by Dundu and Worldbeaters Music. The performance will start on the Tower Festival Headland in front of Blackpool Tower taking people on a short, but memorable journey through the town centre and then back to the headland for the rest of the show.
18:15: AFISHAL puts on a spectacular finale using the iconic Blackpool Tower as a stunning backdrop to his live performance.
Thursday, 26th October:
17:00: The Carnival of the Lights incorporating the world’s first illuminated tramcar parade featuring the battleship, trawler and Great Western train, joined by a procession of illuminated vehicles, costume characters and the Worldbeaters drummers. The trams will leave from outside the Pleasure Beach at around 5pm and will be joined at Central Pier by the rest of the procession for what promises to be a truly magical Illuminations experience.
18:15: The festival party continues with another sensational performance by AFISHAL on the Tower Festival Headland.
Friday, 27th October:
17:00 onwards: The Worldbeaters drummers will gather on the Tower Festival Headland ready to lead spectators through the town centre to St John’s Square (outside the Winter Gardens) where Bilbobasso will perform ‘AMOR’. Immediately after the show, the drummers will lead spectators back to the headland for a festival finale by AFISHAL.
Cllr Gillian Campbell, Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “The inaugural Festival@LightPool in 2016 delivered a stunning programme of world-class entertainment.
“We are delighted to be able to stage another free festival during the October half-term. The continuing support of Arts Council England and LeftCoast means we have been able to add even more talent to create what will be a breathtaking programme of live entertainment over the three days.
“The festival, together with the LightPool projections, bring a new dimension to the traditional Blackpool Illuminations and we would encourage visitors to get out of their vehicles and enjoy the Lights from a completely different perspective.”
The LightPool 3D projection shows will be shown on the front of the Blackpool Tower immediately after the shows end. These digitally mapped shows, which transform The Blackpool Tower building into a sea of light, colour and sound, are running throughout the Illuminations season which ends on November 5.
The shows are free to watch and best viewed from the Comedy Carpet on the Tower Festival Headland.
*Festival content and show times maybe subject to change.
Watch the 2016 LightPool Festival video below!