29th August - 10th November 2014

Blackpool Illuminations 2014 Switch On Show

Peter kay 2014 Switch On Night

2014 Switch on is actually a Switch On Festival over 3 days! The Friday will have the traditional FREE Switch On concert and celebrity Switch On.

It has been announced that Peter Kay will be switching on the 2014 Illuminations. The Bolton comedian has a history with Blackpool, he has performed at Blackpool Tower. He holds the Guniness World record for performing his tour to over 1.2 Million people. He has been on tv in Phoenix Nights and That Peter Kay Thing where the Apollo Bingo Hall on Waterloo Road was the Bingo hall in Eyes Down episode.

The Switch on concert will be headlined by Little Mix. They will also be joined by Texas who are celebrating their 25th anniversary since their debut album in 1989. Chart stars Pixie Lott, Union J, Neon Jungle and George Ezra will also be performing.

Saturday night is set to be a West-End themed musical extravaganza! Giving plenty of opportunity to sing your heart out to all your favourite songs and enjoy the evening´s atmosphere.



For Sunday´s show you will need to put you pop head on with soulful singer Rebecca Ferguson headlining the evening and special guests Atomic Kitten, Liberty X, 911 and Damage taking you back!

For a limited time only, you can purchase a weekend ticket for just £20* per adult, and the first 5,000 tickets purchased will get guaranteed wristbands to Friday´s FREE Switch-On concert!



2013 saw Jonathan Ross switch on the Illuminations.

Blackpool Council, with the assistance of Gary Barlow narrowly avoided a disaster with the 2013 Switch On concert. Every year Blackpool Council organises a Switch on Concert and at approximately 9:30pm a celebrity throws the Illuminations Switch. In 2013 the Concert was, for the first time, to be a paid for event. The headline act were to be the Script, unfortunately ´Family medical issues´ the Script were forced to pull out just a matter of hours before the switch on! Gary Barlow was in an airport in America and heard via social media of Blackpool Councils problem. Gary tweeted that he would be happy to help out. Blackpool Council replied to his tweet asking if he was serious! During Garys flight back to the UK Blackpool Council continued to talk to Garys management. After a little confusion that they had a switch on celebrity and they needed Gary to perform the switch on concert the deal was done. The deal being that Gary would round up his troops and perform at the switch on show in exchange for a donation to Children in Need. Due to the public confusion at the Script having to cancel and maybe the switch on show being a paid for event Blackpool Council made a huge loss on the event but Gary and the rest of the team put on a great show. The above account of the events leading up to Gary performing is what I can find out from various internet sites and may not be factually correct.

Please note that all donations received via either the street collections, donations from local businesses and from collecting containers in hotels is not used to pay for the concert or any losses incurred. It is used to create new features for the illuminations. So please please be generous in your donations to make the illuminations the best they can be. The Illuminations team are a very dedicated bunch of people who do their best to stretch their budget as far as humanly possible to bring you the greatest FREE show on earth for 66 nights a year.

2012 was a momentous year for the UK. With the Queens Diamond jubilee, the 2012 London Olympics and the centenary of the Blackpool Illuminations. This year the people having the honour of switching on the Illuminations are 6 of Team GB´s medal winners. Beth Tweddle, Karina Bryant, Luke Campbell, Sophie Hosking, Max Whitlock and Steven Burke threw the switch together on the Festival Headland in the shadow of Blackpool Tower. For those of you who didn´t win tickets to the switch on on the Festival Headland there will be a huge screen showing the switch on concert next to Central Pier.

For those who can not get to Blackpool to see the Switch On you can, for the first time ever watch the switch on concert via Smooth Radio and Real Radio´s web site with a live streaming video feed.

Olympians Switch On 2012 Illuminations

Gymnast Beth Tweddle from Liverpool secured a bronze medal on the uneven bars at the Olympics – making her the most decorated British gymnast in history.

Karina Bryant who won a bronze medal in judo.

Amateur boxer, from Hull, 24 year old Luke Campbell won gold in Boxing´s bantamweight division.

Sophie Hosking, won the gold medal for the lightweight double sculls.

Max Whitlock, was a member of Britain´s gymnastics team, where he helped the team claim a bronze medal at the team final.

Steven Burke who won a Cycling gold medal in the Team Pursuit.

In 2012 the switch on show was very different. First it will be on the promenade in front of Blackpool Tower, second people attending the switch on will be able not just to see Blackpool Tower in lights but also the promenade. The switch on will be an all ticket event and these tickets were free to apply for with 50% going to Blackpool residents.