Annual 'Santa Comes to Bispham' parade now extending to Grange Park along with Fleetwood, Poulton and others

For the first time, the list of communitis involved will include Blackpool’s Grange Park estate.

This colourful parade has been bringing some festive cheer to Bispham since 2020, when there was a brief break from the grim pandemic lockdown.

Since then it has gone from strength to strength and organisers say this year’s event will be the biggest yet.

The main Santa Comes to Bispham parade will take place on Wednesday December 18, when it will set off from outside Norbreck Primary Academy, on Norbreck Road, at 6.30pm.

It will include Santa on his sleigh, the Grinch, Elf Behavin’ Badly and various eye-catching vehicles, including a disco float with snow cannons, Doug Smith’s Harry the Christmas Lorry and the Fox Brothers Peterbilt truck.

Parade route

The parade will make its way down Norbreck Road, Norfolk Avenue, Beaufort Avenue and Redbank Road before reaching Bispham village, where crowds will join in a festive sing-a-long.

Coordinaters have successfully applied for a road closure for the big event.

As well as being a fun event, it is also a fundraiser for Trinity Hospice and Brian House and collectors will be out and about during the evening.

A huge raffle is also being held to raise funds for the hospices, boasting some spectacular prizes, and the draw for this will take place at the Albion pub, on Red Bank Road, on December 12 at 7pm.

A black tie dinner event at the Imperial Hotel, Blackpool, on November 23, has already rasied a magnificent £9,000 towards the hospices.

Details can be found on the group’s website (see below).

What else is happening?

The Santa Comes to Bispham team have now exported the successful extravaganza and similar events are now taking place in Thornton (December 3), Grange Park (December 5) , Lytham (December 6), Fleetwood (December 10), Kirkham (December 11), Hambleton (December 15) before culminating in the grand finale at Bispham on December 18.

What they say

Santa Comes to Bispham is organised by Karen and Gavin Frost, Stuart and Joanne Pulver and Shaun Foy, who all live in the Bispham area.

Karen said: “It all started when Stu somehow got hold of a Sana’s sleigh and decided to go up and down Holmfield Road as Santa to cheer everyone up.

"It sort of snowballed after that and we ended up organising a full parade.

"That went down so well – it came after the Covid lockdown and some people were actually crying – they were so happy and relieved to see things back to normal for a bit after the first Covid lockdown, it had been so grim.

"We decided to make it an annual event and use it to raise money for Trinity and Brian House.

"It’s been brilliant– it gives everyone a lift in the run-up to Christmas and raises some vitl funds for good causes, we love it.”

For further details visit: https://santacomestotown.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG2w4xleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRMKg_VvtwVMIJKYrfgiMiGHgRGmpfMz5W-lboDnEsZzDzZLxKxzbyez0w_aem_pvs0DtwP34dO4wQ50iksDg