Fleetwood Festival of Transport ready to roll again on Sunday July 16

The free event, which incorporates the street theatre element SpareParts, is now billed as the largest free transport and arts event in the UK.

It takes place in Fleetwood town centre and along the seafront this Sunday (July 16).

Trams will play a big role this year as the event also celebrates the 125th anniversary of the trams coming to Fleetwood (1898-2023).

What is Tram Sunday and why is called that?

The event, first held in 1986, is a large transport festival, in which classic cars, buses, bikes and other vehicles of all eras are arranged in static displays along the length of main high street, Lord Street, and roads off it. There is also a parade of vehicles.

However, the event also includes a number of vintage trams, making it different from most other transport festivals and giving it the distinctive name.

What is the SpareParts Festival?

The SpareParts Festival combines street theatre with eccentric, transport-themed invention, and features interactive walkabout performances, unexpected characters and crazy contraptions, along with music, dance and giant puppets.

What is happening on Tram Sunday and when?

To kick off the festival the transport and art parades are combining together to make one unforgettable show.

The parade will start from Ash Street at 11:45am, where it will travel the length of Lord Street and North Albert Street, ending up at Euston Gardens.

Alongside SpareParts performers this year in the parade there will also be local schools, community groups and services, mounted police, the MG Club, vehicles from popular film and TV and Fleetwood RNLI.

This year the festival will feature a static heritage Blackpool to Fleetwood Balloon Tram and the always popular Western Train.

These will be located at the Ferry Café Interchange.

On the day of the festival double decker heritage balloon trams are operating a 30-minute service, between North Pier and Fisherman’s Walk, offering a seamless way to get to Fleetwood and arrive at the festival in style

Displays

Along with classic vehicles, there will be several replica vehicles from film and tv to thrill transport and film enthusiasts of all ages:

 Lightening McQueen (Cars)

 Ecto 1 (Ghostbusters)

 The A-Team Van

 KITT (Knight Rider)

 DeLorean (Back to the Future)

 Chevy Blazer (Stranger Things)

 Volvo P1800 coupe (The Saint)

 1969 Dodge Charger (The Dukes of Hazzard)

SpareParts entertainers

The SpareParts element of the festival this year is made up of eclectic and entertaining performers

including:

 Artizani Lifeboat (Walkabout act)

 Bell and Bullock (Walkabout act)

 Bombay Baja (Europe’s leading Indian Brass Band)

 Elton Wrong (Walkabout act)

 Circus Fudge (Walkabout act)

 Thingumajig Theatre (Walkabout act)

 The Spirit of Courage accompanied by Blackpool based drag artis Nikky Rush and ‘The Ocean’

– a troupe of dancers from Fleetwood based dance school The Monarchy Dance Squad

 The Gastropods (Giant Glowing Snails)

 The Bloco Band (A six piece Brazilian Bloco drumming band)

New for this year is the inclusion of Rum Ba Ba the giant inflatable whale.

You’ll find him in Victoria Street outside Fleetwood Market where Netty, an eccentric marine biologist is ready to welcome you inside to tell you a very fishy tale.

Parking

Parking is free, the designated event car park is The ABP (Associated British Ports) car park on Dock Street (postcode FY7 6NU). Parking for disabled Blue Badge holders is available at Custom House Lane (postcode FY7 6BY).

What the organisers say

Terry Rogers, the new chairman of Fleetwood Festival of Transport, said: “Tram Festival is a fun-filled day for all the family and we hope people from across the Fylde coast and beyond will come along.

"Together as a community we can showcase the very best that Fleetwood has to offer.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the amazing SpareParts, the UK’s only touring festival of art, performance and spectacle dedicated to transport, travel and motion.”