Blackpool Illuminations 2012

We went for the very last weekend of the Illuminations at Blackpool, England. From the beginning of September to the end of October, a six mile stretch of the beachfront is illuminated with a variety of imaginative lighting displays. The tradition started back in 1879 when Blackpool was the first town to have electric lights. Eight arc lamps lit up the Promenade (the road along the beach). People flocked to see them. In subsequent years, the displays became more and more elaborate (though they were off during the two World Wars).

The tower with street illuminations

Nowadays, most people look at them by bus, car, or trolley that runs down the beachfront. The traffic was amazingly bad, which I guess made it good for the passengers to see as much as they could. Some blokes were collecting donations along the roadside to help fund the lights, which cost about £2 million each year. We took a train north to start at the top of the lights.

The section at the north end of town has various tableaux. We walked to get the most enjoyment from the lights.

Pirates of Blackpool, with a cool shark!

Dancing girls

A tribute to royalty

The Ali Baba display

Say it...

And it opens!

There was no way to get a picture with both lit

Egyptian theme

There was a Doctor Who display but that picture did not come out, alas! It was the most anticipated by J, who had seen it from the train and was very happy when we walked back past it.

We did get one display in action:



In spite of the cold and damp, we had a great time looking at the lights. And it got us excited for Christmas lights!

Tower Circus, Blackpool

The Tower Circus in Blackpool has long been a popular spot. They run through the summer until early November and usually have a Christmas pantomime as well. The star of the show is Mooky the Clown, son of Mooky the Clown, who is also son of another Mooky the Clown. At least, that's what our hotel manager told us. He was a pretty funny clown and even has his own wikipedia article, so he's achieved some level of fame (and it says his circus heritage goes back seven generations on his father's side and nine on his mother's, so the hotel guy wasn't kidding).

When we first arrived, we had to wait in a Disneyesque line. It went from room to room in the tower. We finally made it to the performance room which was set as a conventional one-ring circus. The seating was general admission but we were early enough that we found good seats.

Some of the lesser performers were selling souvenirs

An announcement came on saying that face painting was available for any children interested. L was excited so I took her down to the ring to get dolled up. She was pretty happy with what she got.

L the clown

L's new nose made it back to the hotel, but eventually it succumbed to curious prying and was split in half. So it didn't make it out of Blackpool in one piece. Her fascination had abated by then, so no tears were shed. But back to the circus!

It wasn't long before the circus started. The variety of acts was quite nice, including acrobatics, juggling, trapeze, comedy routines, audience participation, etc. Some routines were more impressive than others. The two best were the woman with one, then two, then multiple hula hoops, and the Mississippi Gamblers who did these amazing jumps using a long wooden plank. The only bad act was the sharp-shooter because it was too obviously fake and went on for a while.

The show was a good two hours including an intermission, during which the kids wandered around checking out the venue.

Intermission was also time for more photos!

Mommy and J on their way back from exploring

Some of Mooky's best jokes:

• "His dad was a G.I. and his mom was R.A.F., so he's a giraffe."
•  One routine had the ringmaster's "wife" come out sleepwalking and she would take an item off Mooky (like his wallet and his clothes). Each time, the ringmaster would tell Mooky, "Don't wake her up, it could be fatal. I'll return it in the morning just like new." After Mooky had been stripped down to his comical underwear, the sleepwalking wife came one last time, took Mooky's arm, and led him off. Mooky told the ringmaster, "Don't wake her up, it could be fatal. I'll return her to you in the morning just like new."

We had a great time at the circus and the experience has given us confidence that J and L could make it through a theatre performance. We're going to a Christmas pantomime this year, which will show up in the blog sooner or later, I'm sure.

Blackpool Tower

The Blackpool Tower is a major tourist destination. In addition to its iconic imitation of the Eiffel Tower, it houses many attractions, including the Blackpool Dungeon (part of a chain of horror attractions in England), the Tower Circus (which will get its own post), a ball room, an observation deck, and a kids' play area.

The Tower at night

When it's darker

The observation deck at the top of the tower was closed due to high winds, so we didn't go all the way up to the top. We did go to Jungle Jim's, an extensive playground where children can run through and climb about. L and J loved it though they were pretty shy about going in by themselves. Usually they dragged Mommy inside but I wound up exploring there as well.

More like a jungle temple than just a jungle

A pirate blimp! The steam-punk in me was excited.

J poses

Like many children's indoor play areas, Jungle Jim's includes a snack bar that mostly caters to the parents who are relaxing at the tables while their children exhaust themselves on the fun play equipment.

We also got to see the ballroom set up.

The Tower Ballroom (but where will they dance?)

There was a dance later that night, with lots of people in fancy dress. We know because we saw them on the street walking towards the Tower. L saw some lady in a white fancy dress and said, "She's going to get married!"

While it was still morning we moved on from Jungle Jim's to the Tower Circus, which will be tomorrow's post!

Blackpool, England

Blackpool is a town on the west coast of England, just south of the Lakes district. It's famous as a working class holiday destination. Like many beach towns, the waterfront is loaded with restaurants, shops, and activities for all ages. Three piers also have an assortment of leisure attractions for visitors. We went to Blackpool at the very end of the season, i.e. the first weekend in November.

The water was too cold to go in, which was fine since the weather was too blustery for any but the most ambitious of people to even try outdoor swimming. Plus, the daylight was already rather short.

The ocean and one of the piers at sunset, about 4:30 p.m.

The piers feature some gambling halls, though the gambling is usually a small part of a larger and more family friendly gaming area. The games are a mixture of fairground game stalls, electronic games of chance, and video games like those at a Dave & Buster's. I wandered through Treasure Island, one of the halls on the waterfront, and was amazed at the variety of games, from first-person shooter video games to Dance Dance Revolution to dexterity games like skeeball.

Blackpool also has a zoo and several parks, none of which we visited since our stay was so short and the weather was so inclement. We did see some fantastic outdoor sculptures in the downtown area.

Some sort of diver with penguins below

Dominating the skyline is the Blackpool Tower, an Eiffel Tower-like structure with an observation deck and many other attractions on the first few floors.

Blackpool Tower

The big flaw that the children spotted in the town of Blackpool is the absence of an actual pool. Every where we went, they asked where the pool was. They were hoping to go swimming! We tried to convince them that the weather was too bad for swimming anyway, but they would not believe us.

The manager at our hotel assured us that the weather is much nicer in the summer time and there are plenty of indoor activities, like the Tower Circus. Of course, the real attraction that brought us was the Illuminations, a sort of Christmas-light display that happens every September and October in Blackpool. This year (2012), the last weekend of the display was the first weekend of November, so we were there just in time. More about those in subsequent posts!