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The Blackpool Illuminations In 2009 with mermaids hanging each side of the lamp posts with decorative lights hanging in between them whilst the Blackpool Tower in the background is lit up gold The Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival with over one million light bulbs. Founded in 1879 and held each autumn from August until November they are on for 66 nights a year. In 1934, the town began a tradition of marking the start of the festival by hosting a public figure to perform the inaugural switch-on of the lights. For the first public ceremony, the honor was performed by Lord Derby .[ 1] Canberra bomber aircraft in 1969 and racehorse Red Rum in 1977.
List of switch on hosts [ edit ]
Year
1934
Lord Derby [ 1] [ 2]
1935
Audrey Mosson (Railway Queen of Great Britain)
1936
Sir Josiah Stamp
1937
Prince George, Duke of Kent [ 2]
1938
Councillor Mabel A. Quayle (Mayoress of Blackpool; first woman councillor)[ 3] [ 4]
1939–1948
Cancelled due to World War II [ 5]
1949
Anna Neagle
1950
Wilfred Pickles
1951
Stanley Matthews [ 5]
1952
Valerie Hobson
1953
George Formby [ 2]
1954
Gilbert Harding
1955
Yakov Malik (Soviet Ambassador)
1956
Reginald Dixon [ 2]
1957
John H. Whitney (American Ambassador)
1958
A. E. "Matty" Matthews
1959
Jayne Mansfield [ 2]
1960
Janet Munro
1961
Violet Carson
1962
Shirley Anne Field
1963
Cliff Michelmore
1964
Gracie Fields [ 2]
1965
David Tomlinson
1966
Ken Dodd [ 2]
1967
Horace King
1968
Matt Busby
1969
Canberra Bomber
1970
Tony Blackburn
1971
The cast of Dad's Army
1972
Danny La Rue
1973
Gordon Banks
1974
Wendy Craig [ 2]
1975
Cast of Doctor Who Tom Baker (in costume as The Doctor ), Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter [ 2]
1976
Carol Jean Grant (Miss United Kingdom)
1977
Red Rum [ 1] [ 5]
1978
Terry Wogan
1979
Kermit the Frog and The Muppets [ 1] [ 2]
1980
Cannon and Ball
1981
Earl & Countess Spencer[ 1]
1982
Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward
1983
Cast of Coronation Street Doris Speed
1984
Johannes Rau (Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia ) and David Waddington ,(Minister of State , the Home Office )
1985
Joanna Lumley , BBC Children in Need , and Audrey Mosson (50 year anniversary)[ 2]
1986
Les Dawson [ 5]
1987
Frank Bough , Anne Gregg and Kathy Tayler , all from the BBC's Holiday
1988
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman
1989
Frank Bruno
1990
Julie Goodyear and Roy Barraclough
1991
Derek Jameson and Judith Chalmers
1992
Lisa Stansfield [ 2]
1993
Status Quo
1994
Shirley Bassey
1995
Bee Gees
1996
Eternal
1997
Michael Ball
1998
Wayne Sleep
1999
Gary Barlow
2000
Westlife [ 2]
2001
Steps
2002
Ronan Keating
2003
Blue
2004
Geri Halliwell [ 2]
2005
Chris Evans
2006
Dale Winton
2007
David Tennant
2008
The Stig with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from BBC Top Gear
2009
Alan Carr
2010
Robbie Williams [ 2]
2011
Keith Lemon
2012
6 of Team GB 's London 2012 medalists. (Beth Tweddle , Greg Rutherford , Karina Bryant , Luke Campbell , Max Whitlock and Sophie Hosking )
2013
Jonathan Ross
2014
Peter Kay [ 1] [ 5]
2015
Tim Burton
2016
Barbara Windsor
2017
Star Trek: Discovery Jason Isaacs ) and Diversity [ 6]
2018
Alfie Boe [ 7]
2019
Lucy Fallon
2020
A group of Britain's Coronavirus NHS Heroes
2021
Strictly Come Dancing Shirley Ballas [ 1]
2022
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (replacement for Johnny Vegas )
2023
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
2024
Mel B (Scary Spice)
^ a b c d e f g Blackpool Illuminations 2021: Switch-on honour for Strictly's Ballas ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Claire Lark (30 August 2019), "Memory Lane: The honour of switching on Blackpool Illuminations" , The Gazette , Blackpool ^ Davies, Sam; Morley, Bob (2016). County Borough Elections in England and Wales, 1919–1938: A Comparative Analysis ISBN 9781351948104 ^ "Shining bright: Blackpool Lights over the ages" . The Gazette . Blackpool. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2021 .^ a b c d e Wood, Allan W (2015), Blackpool – The Postcard Collection , Amberley Publishing, p. 133, ISBN 9781445645100 ^ "Liverpool star provides 'intergalactic' help for Blackpool lights switch-on - Liverpool Echo" . 3 September 2017.^ "Alfie Boe to switch on the Blackpool Illuminations" . BBC News . 25 July 2018.
