The world-famous Blackpool Illuminations have been one of the UK’s most endearing and enduring visitor attractions for more than a century. Thanks to new investment and innovation year after year, the seafront show remains as compelling as ever.
Once again, the season was extended over the festive period, shining nightly from 29 August, 2025 - 4 January, 2026.
New features for 2025
Guardians of the North
By Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
Bold, brilliant, and just a little bit beastly, the Blackpool Illuminations took a bold new turn for 2025 with Guardians of the North. The installation was a brand-new, fire-breathing feature from designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen that traded seaside donkeys for something with a bit more bite.
A trio of towering dragon protectors stood watch, inspired by Lancashire’s deep-rooted myths and legends. Each perched on medieval-style turrets, these three colossal creatures, one purple, one orange with yellow undertones, and one green, stretched up to 7 metres tall with scales that illuminated and eyes that followed your every move.
Using a mix of cutting-edge digital sorcery and classic Illuminations’ magic, the dragons were brought to life before your eyes. Spectactors could watch closely as they blinked, snarled, breathed smoke and even interacted with The Blackpool Tower’s iconic projection show, as if they are communicating with the landmark itself.
A QR code could be scanned on-site so people could choose their favourite dragon and see it appear and move across the face of the Blackpool Tower building in a stunning light projection.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen – Creative Curator for Blackpool Illuminations
Blackpool Illuminations’ Creative Curator, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, is a classically trained fine artist with experience in both the public and private client design world. Although best known for his stints as a presenter on shows such as 'Changing Rooms' and 'The Holiday Programme' in the 90's, LLB has been married to maximalism since he was a child.
Wild Light
By Robert E Fuller
New for 2025, the Wild Light roadway section proudly displayed the remarkable paintings from the renowned artist Robert E Fuller, who is widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading wildlife artists.
Celebrated for his excellent work in both oils and acrylics, his paintings revealed the unique and individual characters of the animals that he has meticulously studied in their natural habitats, many of which are located just a stone's throw from his home in the picturesque region of Yorkshire.
The Wild Light collection featured an array of wildlife, including the charming badger, the clever fox, the graceful hare, the majestic stag, and the graceful pheasants, alongside the colourful goldfinch, the striking kingfisher, and the wise owl.
Robert E Fuller
Robert E. Fuller is a British wildlife artist and filmmaker best known for his renditions of British fauna, rendered faithfully in oils, acrylic and bronze. He favours a highly detailed, realistic style and counts the RSPCA and the National Trust among his customers.
His YouTube channel has over 910k subscribers with over 275million views.
Lusch Puppy
By Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
New for 2025, designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen brought a touch of tongue-in-cheek glamour to the Blackpool Illuminations with Lusch Puppy, a tribute to his beloved dogs and the over-the-top style he’s known for.
These illuminated portraits reimagined pampered pooches as aristocratic icons, dressed in regal outfits with gilded collars, baroque frills, puffed sleeves and enough swagger to rival royalty.
Inspired by the grandeur of traditional portraiture, where noblemen once posed in oil and gold, Laurence swapped dukes and duchesses for dogs with attitude, celebrating the unconditional love (and slightly ridiculous fashion sense) of man’s best friend.
LOVE
By Jason Wilsher-Mills MBE
Award-winning artist Jason Wilsher-Mills brought a deeply personal installation to Blackpool Illuminations with LOVE, a six-panel light artwork inspired by his childhood memories and emotional connection to the resort.
Drawing on a nostalgic visit in 1978 from his Wakefield council estate, Jason channeled the romance and magic of The Blackpool Tower Ballroom through a heartfelt love story, told in lights. The characters, his own mum and dad, captured in one of his favourite photos, dancing in pure happiness.
Each panel illustrated a chapter in this timeless romance:
Panels 1 & 2: A boy and girl, strangers on Blackpool beach, unknowingly bound by fate and the town’s magic.
Panels 3 & 4: The couple fall in love through dance, from their first twirl to competitions at the iconic ballroom.
Panel 5: A joyful wedding scene, two ordinary people united by love and the spirit of Blackpool.
Panel 6: In later life, they still dance, still in love, transformed by a lifetime of devotion and movement.
The panels were adorned with Spanish-Moorish tile patterns inspired by the Tower Ballroom and Winter Gardens, along with tattoo motifs and religious imagery seen around the town. These symbols celebrated Blackpool’s character, energy and enduring power to inspire love and joy.
Jason Wilsher-Mills MBE
Jason Wilsher-Mills is a Wakefield-born artist whose work celebrates disability, northern working-class heritage and popular culture through vibrant, large-scale art and cutting-edge technology. After contracting chickenpox at age 11, which left him wheelchair-bound, Jason channels his experiences into sculptures, digital paintings, and immersive augmented and virtual reality projects.
His art blends humour with powerful storytelling, described as “‘I, Daniel Blake’ meets ‘The Beano.’” Jason has exhibited globally, including the 2024 Venice Biennale and the Wellcome Collection. In 2025, his show Are We There Yet? won Best Exhibition at the Museum & Heritage Awards.
He was also awarded MBE in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours.
2025 Illuminations' sponsors
Thanks to the generous support of our new and returning commercial sponsors and public donations, the world-famous Blackpool Illuminations continue to attract and entertain millions of visitors each year.
Returning sponsors for this year’s display:
We are always proud to welcome back companies and organisations that have supported us financially and operationally over several years.
Barclaycard
In 2019, the public were encouraged to make cashless donations to support one of the UK’s most-loved free attractions. In collaboration with Barclaycard, fast contactless systems were introduced at kiosk collections points at the north and south gateways to the display.
Barclaycard’s support in agreeing a greatly reduced merchant charge enables us to receive the maximum amount of donations to help maintain the fantastic light show. Find out more about how you can donate to help the Lights shine for many years to come.
Beaverbrooks
We are always delighted to welcome back Beaverbrooks, our longest standing sponsor of Blackpool Illuminations. Following the all-new Beaverbrooks’ display in 2023, the roadway section, featuring three styles of illuminated diamond pendants, dazzled passers-by for the third year running.
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon returned for another year with their family-friendly road section, featuring Spongebob and his pals next to Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Partingtons Holiday Parks
We were pleased to welcome back Partingtons Holiday Parks. They returned for a fifth season with their blinging display of lights that wow spectators on foot or in the car.
Sooty and Friends
To honour the town’s long-term association with Sooty, the Illuminations team created some additional features of Sooty, Sweep, Soo and Richard. These appeared across the roadway along the promenade in the form of 3D neon characters.
*All features in the 2025 Blackpool Illuminations display were supported by the Towns Fund. The Towns Fund is part of the Government’s plan for Levelling Up the UK economy.
Towns across England are working with the Government to address their growth constraints, deliver economic benefits and improve the lives of people within their communities. The overarching aims of the Towns Fund are to drive sustainable economic regeneration and productivity across the UK.