Blackpool Illuminations is an annual Lights Festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 19 September that year, held each autumn in the English seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire.
Also known locally as The Lights or The Illuminations, they run each year for sixty-six days, from late August until early November at a time when most other English seaside resorts' seasons are coming to an end. Dubbed as "the greatest free light show on earth", they are 6 miles (10 km) long and use over one million bulbs. The display stretches along the Promenade from Starr Gate at the south end of the town to Bispham in the north.
In 2012 the Illuminations will shine from Friday 31 August to Sunday 4 November.
Read more about Blackpool Illuminations: History, Switch On, Modern Day Illuminations, Artists and Designers