Illuminating Facts Print

All the facts about the famous illuminations !!

  • The Illuminations cost £2.4 million to stage.
  • The mountain of equipment is worth £10 million.
  • The Lights are expected to attract in excess of 3.5 million visitors to Blackpool.
  • The army of visitors will spend more than £275 million while visiting the resort during the Lights.
  • The Illuminations will shine non-stop for 66 nights.
  • The dazzling display stretches almost six miles from Starr Gate to Bispham.
  • Forty-five staff, which include Artists, Electricians, Joiners Mechanics, Painters and Engineers, work all year round to ensure the displays are ready on time.
  • Altogether 65,000 staff hours are used on maintenance, preparation, erection, operation and - finally - dismantling the features, fixtures and fittings.
  • The Rigby Road workshop, resembles something of a Santa's Grotto with its network of workshops, halls, corridors and storage area.
  • There are more than 100-miles of festoon strip strung between promenade poles and across the carriageway.
  • Cable and wiring stretches more than 200 miles.
  • There are an amazing one million lamps in various types and styles.
  • The equipment weighs more than 711,000 kilograms which is equivalent to 350 Blackpool trams.
  • There are more than 500 scenic designs and features.
  • Forty large tableaux holding more than 5,000 square metres in surface area are included in the display.
  • There are more than 5,000 floodlights and spotlights.
  • Most of the display now operates on low voltage eg 12v and 24v.
  • New infrastructure for the lights, street lighting and tramways cost £9 million.
  • The lights are supported by more than 1,500 poles.
  • Electricity consumed totals 960,000 units, at an approximate cost of £50,000.

  • Anyone got a 50p for the meter!