Blackpool Illuminations 2020: a new moment in history as Lights shine bright in resort once again

In a new milestone for the world famous Light display, this year's Switch On event was one for the history books, the heart of the resort beaming into tens of thousands of homes across the globe.

The virtual concert which was broadcast from the iconic Empress Ballroom, in the Winter Gardens featured a wealth of star acts Spice Girl Melanie C, Fleur East, Tom Grennan, Beckie Hill and Blackpool's own Rae Morris in a set of live and pre-recorded peformances.

Singer songwriter Rae dazzled in an emerald green ballgown, under the lights as she took to the ballroom floor solo for singles 'Do It' and 'Someone Out There.'

She described the evening 'as a dream' after a year that has rocked the world. She added: "Everyone is beaming, smiling, having a lovely day. This is my first gig back and I couldn't ask for a more special occasion."

Fleur East also delivered her “Blackpool Rap” written and produced especially for the show, and there were cameo appearances by Ashley Banjo and Olly Murs, and the familiar sounds of one of Blackpool’s Wurlitzer organs.

Live links were hosted by Diversity's Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely who have become a regular fixture for the show in recent years, which is a joint collaboration with Visit Blackpool and MTV. Fellow co-host Ashley Banjo was unable to make this year's proceedings due to his commitments with Britain's Got Talent.

Perri said: "We're here in Blackpool every year, a lot but it is the first time it has felt slightly strange, when usually we're used to thousands of people- it's different but we still want to make the show as good as we possibly can."

Jordan added: "Not even 2020 can stop the Illuminations. What we need now is a little bit of positivity, seeing people have fun acknowledging our corona heroes - it's just an incredible thing to be doing ."

The big moment of the night was reserved for this year's Switch On stars - seven nominated 'corona heroes' representing the nation's keyworkers, who had worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic.

In a nod to the service, bravery and determination shown by health staff, emergency services, carers, volunteers, shop workers and fundraisers, a section of the Illuminations along the Golden Mile will shine bright with the faces of 55 heroes from across Britain.

Lights curator Laurence Llewelyn Bowen said: "The Illuminations is such an incredibly important thing, a lighthouse and we fought so hard to make sure it was still a part of people's holiday experience.

"But what didn't seem right was making it something about celebrities, showbiz personalities, soap and film stars, actually what we wanted to do was to really say thank you to the extraordinary efforts of the nation's frontline workers and all they've gone through to keep us all safe and that is how we came up with the idea of the Corona Heroes.

Among those selected from thousands of nominations were Blackpool based Dr Jason Cupitt, the lead consultant for the Covid Response at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and Kirsty Jones a nurse at Trinity Hospice.

Throughout the evening audiences were excited to get in on the action, interacting through social media platforms throughout the hour long performance, with viewers tuning in from as far as United States.

Around 16,000 people tuned in on the MTV YouTube channel alone. The show will be available on all the social channels for the next 24 hours.

The Blackpool Illuminations will now be shining right through the Autumn and the festive season until January 3.

The live part of the event was switched to a closed set in the Empress Ballroom within the Winter Gardens following a last-minute technical problem in the Tower Ballroom.

For times visit https://www.visitblackpool.com/