There is always someone performing or performance to see in Blackpool, as the town is filled with the circus of life.
The Blackpool Tower Ballroom
Inspired by The Eiffel Tower, and built in 1894, The Blackpool Tower is one of the country’s most audacious village halls. It is home to five different attractions. Blackpool Tower Ballroom is the most famous ballroom in the world – renowned for its unique sprung dance floor and remains to this day an international mecca for dance fans including BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
Independent performance in Blackpool
For a number of years, spoken word events have been popping up in cafes and pubs nights presented by Dead Good Poets and the Blackpool Pub Poets.
FORM Blackpool is a theatre and performance project in Blackpool, presenting a live programme of new contemporary theatre and supporting local artists. Most Form events take place at the intimate Bootleg Social; find out about upcoming events on their website. Form is a not-profit organisation supported by Arts Council England.
The Electric Sunshine Project CIC (TESP) was formed in July 2016 and is a collective of high-quality workshops, events, projects and performances, primarily produced in Blackpool, that seek to engage those who are least connected to the arts and which can be taken elsewhere. Find out more here. In a true nod to Blackpool’s cultural heritage The Electric Sunshine Project is named after Blackpool becoming the first municipality in the world to have electric street lighting in 1879 – they called it ‘Electric Sunshine’.
The Blackpool Tower Circus
The Blackpool Tower also contains family-favourite, the Blackpool Tower Circus which was home to clown Charlie Cairoli for nearly forty years! The circus ring is one of four left in the world that can transform itself into a water pool - it holds 42,000 gallons!It is the only circus in the world designed by the legendary Victorian theatre designer Frank Matcham.
