Overview
- Blackpool Tourism Limited announced on Thursday that Paddy McGuinness will ceremonially switch on the Illuminations on Friday, September 4, 2026.
- The evening will include a free headline concert at the Tower Festival Headland featuring Lucy Spraggan and The Feeling with Five as headliners and BBC Radio Lancashire presenters Graham Liver and Sharon Hartley hosting.
- A public ballot is open now for 20,000 free tickets split between Blackpool residents and visitors with applications closing at 11pm on Sunday, August 9, and successful bookings charged a £5 administration fee.
- Visitors can guarantee a place near the stage by buying Golden Circle tickets priced at £12 plus a £5 booking fee per order.
- Organisers frame the Switch‑On as a key seasonal boost for the resort that continues a long celebrity-led tradition of lighting Blackpool’s six-mile Promenade and draws thousands to the town each autumn.