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List of people who have switched on the Blackpool Illuminations

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The Blackpool Illuminations In 2009 with mermaids hanging each side of the lamp posts with decorative lights hanging in between them whilst the Blackpool Tower in the background is lit up gold

The Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival with over one million light bulbs. Founded in 1879 and held each autumn from August until November they are on for 66 nights a year. In 1934, the town began a tradition of marking the start of the festival by hosting a public figure to perform the inaugural switch-on of the lights. For the first public ceremony, the honor was performed by Lord Derby.[1] In subsequent years, hosts have predominantly been drawn from the world of entertainment with occasional appearances by sportspeople and political figures. Unusual hosts have included a Canberra bomber aircraft in 1969 and racehorse Red Rum in 1977.

List of switch on hosts

[edit]
Year
1934 Lord Derby[1][2]
1935 Audrey Mosson (Railway Queen of Great Britain)
1936 Sir Josiah Stamp
1937 Prince George, Duke of Kent[2]
1938 Councillor Mabel A. Quayle (Mayoress of Blackpool; first woman councillor)[3][4]
1939–1948 Cancelled due to World War II[5]
1949 Anna Neagle
1950 Wilfred Pickles
1951 Stanley Matthews[5]
1952 Valerie Hobson
1953 George Formby[2]
1954 Gilbert Harding
1955 Yakov Malik (Soviet Ambassador)
1956 Reginald Dixon[2]
1957 John H. Whitney (American Ambassador)
1958 A. E. "Matty" Matthews
1959 Jayne Mansfield[2]
1960 Janet Munro
1961 Violet Carson
1962 Shirley Anne Field
1963 Cliff Michelmore
1964 Gracie Fields[2]
1965 David Tomlinson
1966 Ken Dodd[2]
1967 Horace King
1968 Matt Busby
1969 Canberra Bomber
1970 Tony Blackburn
1971 The cast of Dad's Army
1972 Danny La Rue
1973 Gordon Banks
1974 Wendy Craig[2]
1975 Cast of Doctor Who: Tom Baker (in costume as The Doctor), Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter[2]
1976 Carol Jean Grant (Miss United Kingdom)
1977 Red Rum[1][5]
1978 Terry Wogan
1979 Kermit the Frog and The Muppets[1][2]
1980 Cannon and Ball
1981 Earl & Countess Spencer[1]
1982 Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward
1983 Cast of Coronation Street, switched on by Doris Speed
1984 Johannes Rau (Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia) and David Waddington,(Minister of State, the Home Office)
1985 Joanna Lumley, BBC Children in Need, and Audrey Mosson (50 year anniversary)[2]
1986 Les Dawson[5]
1987 Frank Bough, Anne Gregg and Kathy Tayler, all from the BBC's Holiday programme
1988 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman
1989 Frank Bruno
1990 Julie Goodyear and Roy Barraclough
1991 Derek Jameson and Judith Chalmers
1992 Lisa Stansfield[2]
1993 Status Quo
1994 Shirley Bassey
1995 Bee Gees
1996 Eternal
1997 Michael Ball
1998 Wayne Sleep
1999 Gary Barlow
2000 Westlife[2]
2001 Steps
2002 Ronan Keating
2003 Blue
2004 Geri Halliwell[2]
2005 Chris Evans
2006 Dale Winton
2007 David Tennant
2008 The Stig with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from BBC Top Gear
2009 Alan Carr
2010 Robbie Williams[2]
2011 Keith Lemon
2012 6 of Team GB's London 2012 medalists. (Beth Tweddle, Greg Rutherford, Karina Bryant, Luke Campbell, Max Whitlock and Sophie Hosking)
2013 Jonathan Ross
2014 Peter Kay[1][5]
2015 Tim Burton
2016 Barbara Windsor
2017 Star Trek: Discovery (Jason Isaacs) and Diversity[6]
2018 Alfie Boe[7]
2019 Lucy Fallon
2020 A group of Britain's Coronavirus NHS Heroes
2021 Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas[1]
2022 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (replacement for Johnny Vegas)
2023 Sophie Ellis-Bextor
2024 Mel B (Scary Spice)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Blackpool Illuminations 2021: Switch-on honour for Strictly's Ballas, BBC, 4 September 2021
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Claire Lark (30 August 2019), "Memory Lane: The honour of switching on Blackpool Illuminations", The Gazette, Blackpool
  3. ^ Davies, Sam; Morley, Bob (2016). County Borough Elections in England and Wales, 1919–1938: A Comparative Analysis. Routledge. p. 442. ISBN 9781351948104.
  4. ^ "Shining bright: Blackpool Lights over the ages". The Gazette. Blackpool. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e Wood, Allan W (2015), Blackpool – The Postcard Collection, Amberley Publishing, p. 133, ISBN 9781445645100
  6. ^ "Liverpool star provides 'intergalactic' help for Blackpool lights switch-on - Liverpool Echo". 3 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Alfie Boe to switch on the Blackpool Illuminations". BBC News. 25 July 2018.
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