'Blackpool's biggest and best' - Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen gives preview of Illuminations worth £300m to resort
“Blackpool is all about being the first, being about the biggest, being about the best.”
Designer and TV personality Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen has kicked off Blackpool’s illuminations countdown at a spectacular preview event which showcased some of the newest designs and lights on Thursday morning.
Speaking to The Gazette at the preview event, which took place at Lightworks near Common Edge, Llewelyn-Bowen said: "The launch of the Blackpool Illuminations is always one of those very looked-forward-to moments. It's an extraordinarily exciting moment for Blackpool, for all of us. The rest of the country are turning their lights off, but Blackpool is turning its lights on.
"There's so much that feels new and different this year. What we're really celebrating this year is this concept of collaboration. We've worked with three of the nation's greatest living lady creators - PJ Crook, Chila Kumari Singh Burman MBE, and Toyah Willcox - to make 2026 the Blackpool Illuminations' period of Girl Power."
The centrepiece of this year’s preview was the ground-breaking ‘The Wishing Star tableau’, created by singer, actress and broadcaster Toyah Willcox. The tableau features a 23-minute-long interactive display that combines storytelling, music and lighting in what will be the first of its kind to feature in the Illuminations.
Visitors also previewed ‘The Light of Life’, a hanging installation based on a series of original drawings designed by world-famous artist PJ Crook.
Long-time Blackpool collaborator Chila Kumari Singh Burman MBE unveiled two vibrant, South Asian-inspired light installations based on culture, colour and the tradition of light, and there were a number of new designs inspired by space and the recent Artemis 2 moon launch.
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"This has been an incredibly exciting moment to show so many different takes on culture, while at the same time making it accessible and making it fun," Llewelyn-Bowen said.
Last year, Councillor Paul Galley said the Illuminations featured too heavy an emphasis on on "gigantic art projects" rather than on the resort's traditional cornerstone displays, to which Llewelyn-Bowen responded by calling the councillor ‘out of touch’.
Addressing criticism, Llewelyn-Bowen said: “Last year, we commissioned a survey which showed just how incredibly proud Blackpool was of its Illuminations and how incredibly engaged Blackpool was. We're keeping tradition, but we're modernising it, we're moving it forward.
If successful, Blackpool would receive £10m to host a year-long celebration of arts and culture.
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“The Illuminations are an extraordinarily important part of Blackpool on every level – emotionally, culturally, but also, obviously, in business terms as well. It has resulted in £300m-worth of business coming into the Blackpool economy every year, which would not exist without the Illuminations."
"Blackpool is very special. Blackpool is all about being the first, being about the biggest, being about the best."
"Approaching the City of Culture bid to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Blackpool Illuminations has such an incredible sense of symmetry to it. A City of Culture appellation will really cement in people's imagination just how important Blackpool actually is."