Couple Light Up Blackpool Tower for Gender Reveal

Oh baby, what a way to spread the news!

When Nick Easton and Amberleigh Duckworth decided they wanted to discover the gender of their baby with their close family and friends, they decided to do it in style – by lighting up The Blackpool Tower.
 
The Blackpool couple had a 20-week scan done at a private clinic in March, but asked the staff not to tell them the gender of their baby and, instead, put the information into a sealed envelope.
 
Nick and Amberleigh then contacted Blackpool Council, which manages the Tower lighting, and paid for the lights to be re-programmed in the appropriate colour. They then handed over the sealed envelope to a member of the Tower lighting team and set a date for the big reveal.
 
As they gathered on the Promenade, the lights turned pink and the delighted couple were at last able to find out the gender of their baby, due to be born on August 10, along with the announcement of their baby’s name, Harperleigh Jade Easton, running through the Tower heart. 
 
Whilst illuminations on the iconic structure have been used many times to commemorate and celebrate events, it is the first time it has been used for such an occasion, becoming the UK’s biggest gender reveal to date.
 
Amberleigh, who is a senior residential care worker in a children’s home, said: “With everything that has happened over the past year with COVID-19, we wanted to do something very special that our family and friends could look forward to.
 
“We both knew The Blackpool Tower celebrated occasions such as Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day and wondered if it would even be possible for it to celebrate our event too.
 
“We had a 4D scan done at Window To The Womb clinic in Blackburn and asked them not to tell us the gender. They asked us to close our eyes and told us not to peek whilst they checked for our baby’s gender.
 
“They then had the information put into a sealed envelope and told us to hand it to the person organising the reveal. It was a very hard, but exciting, car journey home, knowing what was in the envelope and knowing we were about to just hand it over to someone else to find out before us.”
 
Nick, who is an inspection engineer in the theme park industry, added: “Obviously, with the restrictions on numbers allowed to gather, we wanted to wait until we could have as many people as possible to celebrate the event with us, even if this meant us waiting an extra eight and a half weeks to find out.
 
“But when the lights went on it was well worth that wait!”
 
Paul Burnett from Blackpool Council, who organised the lighting programme on behalf of the couple, said: “It was pretty nerve-wracking knowing that I was party to such precious information, but it was a pleasure to be able to light up The Blackpool Tower for such a unique celebration.”
 
The Blackpool Tower accepts applications for celebratory events, subject to review and availability. Please note charges apply. You can find out more information here: visitblackpool.com/lightthetower/

📸 Main image by Karl Houghton Skyshots