How Blackpool Tower Ballroom retains its "world‑famous" sprung dance floor

Each year, the glittering Edwardian chandeliers of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom are carefully lowered for their annual clean.

The Blackpool Gazette headed down to watch the meticulous process this month and you can read all about that here.

During the annual clean however, just as much attention is spared below eye level as it is above.

Whilst there, we were also able to watch the team re-spring its famous ballroom floor- often noted as the reason why BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing loves returning every year.

A spokesperson for The Blackpool Tower said: “The Blackpool Tower Ballroom is world‑famous for its sprung dance floor and spectacular architecture. Throughout the year it hosts an incredible variety of events — from Strictly Come Dancing to school performances, award ceremonies, and film productions.

“Its most frequent use, however, is by visitors who come to dance to the sound of the Wurlitzer organ or simply to enjoy the splendour of the surroundings over an afternoon tea.

“The floor is fully sprung, allowing it to be adapted for different events and occasions. As part of the ballroom’s annual maintenance, the spring mechanism is carefully inspected and adjusted before a full deep clean of the floor takes place.”

During the annual clean, Ethan Cardwell-Bunce, the Guest Experience Manager at Blackpool Tower talked us through how the spring system works.

After demonstrating how it was done, he said: “We have about 19 different holes on one side of the floor where we can unspring and spring so when the floor is sprung it’s better for our dancers so when they’re dancing they have a bit of movement in the floor.

“When they do dance, it’s not as stiff floor but when we have our dinners and other events we can then tighten the floor so there’s no movement, no plates and stuff are being moved while they’re sat there.

“We can do half and half as well so if you want a dance floor at the front, we can have, you know, a sprung floor, then we can have a tighter floor at the back. Yeah we can mix and match it but it’s a very old mechanism. It’s always been there from the original date of the ballroom but when we had the fire in 1956, it got put back in it again so we’ve been using it since 1956.”

Over the years, stars of Strictly have told us multiple times that the sprung floor of Blackpool Tower Ballroom is unique.

Taking just last year’s series as an example, runner-up George Clarke told us “They've told me to expect springy floors... Apparently Blackpool is like a trampoline! I did like trampoline as a kid, so maybe I'll just play crack the egg with everyone” whilst his partner Alexis Warr said: “I think it's fun. You just feel like you have an extra pep in your step, especially when you jump.”

Constructed from 30,602 individual wooden blocks, the iconic Tower Ballroom floor is made from oak, mahogany, and walnut.

In December 1956, a serious fire destroyed the ballroom and its floor; restoration took place over the following two years, with the floor being completely rebuilt.

Back in 2022, the floor also underwent its most extensive restoration in over 30 years, during which specialists removed more than 100 layers of old lacquer, sanded it back, and resealed it.