First illuminated tram parade staged in Blackpool

The world's first illuminated tram parade will be staged in Blackpool this week as part of a three-day festival of free entertainment.

The Festival@LightPool event will be held on and around the Tower Festival Headland from Wednesday 25 to Friday 27 October and will feature spectacular live entertainment between 5pm and 7pm each night.

On all three nights, visitors will be able to watch performances of Spark! by Worldbeaters Music - a unique and thrilling show that combines high-impact drumming, superb choreography and stunning lighting design.

Visitors will also be able to see for the first time in Blackpool, the incredible talents of AFISHAL.

He will perform live his own re-mixes of commercial dance tracks using specially-engineered drums. Not only will you be able to hear the music, but you will also see it "projected" on the front of The Blackpool Tower buildings. It is a show that is not to be missed!

Then, for one night only on Thursday 26th October, Blackpool's iconic collection of illuminated heritage trams will parade along the promenade for the first time in the tramway's glorious history.

The illuminated tram parade, featuring the battleship HMS Blackpool, the lottery funded Western Train and the Fisherman's Friend Trawler, will set off from the Pleasure Beach tram loop at around 5pm, and will then travel along the tramway to Bispham before returning to terminate at Blackpool Pleasure Beach around 75 minutes later.

The parade will visibly slow as it approaches Blackpool Tower to give spectators an opportunity for an unmissable photo and video opportunity.

For those who want to be a part of the parade, there will be a limited number of tickets available for visitors to travel on the trams during the parade.

Once the parade is over, the illuminated trams will be running as normal, tickets for these tours are on a first come, first served basis and you must queue at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach tram stop on the night.

The three-day festival will be complemented by the free 3D LightPool shows which will be projected on to the front of The Blackpool Tower building.