The Lancashire coastal town of Blackpool became a tourist attraction with the development of the railways, firstly as a place for cotton workers and their families from the mill towns of East Lancashire to spend a day on the golden sands, and later as a place for them to spend a whole week beside the sea.
Nowadays, people flock in their ten of thousands for almost 10 weeks each Autumn to see the dazzling illuminated display of lights and tableaux along the seafront promenade. Blackpool Illuminations are now one of the biggest tourist attractions in the United Kingdom, with coachloads of people enjoying not only the lights but the Pleasure Gardens (a massive funfair), the many indoor attractions (pubs, bars, clubs and variety shows), the piers and Blackpool Tower (modelled on the Eiffel Tower in Paris), the theatres and the Winter Gardens with its Ice Dancing Spectaculars.
"The Big Switch On" is normally reported as a major event on National television news programmes and takes place on the Friday following the August Bank Holiday Weekend, with the lights being turned off on the first Sunday in November.
The First Night switch-on is always conducted by a celebrity, and the crowds attending make travelling to the event and movement around Blackpool (consistently for their 66-night duration) a problem on most evenings.
The Blackpool Illuminations started in 1879 with just EIGHT electric arc lamps and holidays flocked from the Lancashire mill towns to see "artificial sunshine". The basic idea remains the same, but now people flock in their tens of thousands to see 6 miles of shimmering lights, with the traditional light bulb sharing the honours with fibre-optics, lasers and LED technology.
The lights commence near Starr Gate at the North end of Blackpool’s North Shore and run all along the seafront promenade to Bispham. Between the road and the sea wall for almost the whole length of the run, are the tramlines which carry Blackpool’s equally famous trams, most of which are also bedecked with lights, some transformed into readily identifiable tableaux.
Each year familiar faces, cartoon stars, celebrities, figures and objects can be seen shining down from approximately 100 miles of lights (festooned in strings) or the forty large tableaux (a display covering more than 5000 square metres). Overall there are 1 million individual bulbs, as well as 5,000 floodlights and spotlights.
Equally lit up are the rides, amusements and entertainments to be found at the Pleasure Gardens and the famous Blackpool Tower.
On top of all this, the three piers are also highly decorated, with the famous Burton’s Wagon Wheel towering into the sky, looking majestic as it turns around, completely filled with people who are often enjoying their first ever ride on a ferris wheel.
Torrevieja is one of the most important summer holiday spots in the province of Alicante, about 50 kilometres from the city of Alicante and making up what is known as the Costa Blanca in Spain. Torrevieja and the town of Pilar de la Horadada are in the southern tip, the last towns before you head into the province of Murcia.
When making holiday plans, if you are to arrive there by plane, the closest airport would be the one in Alicante called the Altet. It has great flight combinations with the rest of Europe, especially when flying in from England.
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Many visitors to the UK choose London for their base when visiting the country. If you're planning to stay in the capital, then let's take a look at some other great locations that can easily be reached for a day trip.
The great thing about staying in London is that it truly is a city that never sleeps. With great entertainment, from musicals to plays, it's a place where you will rarely be short of things to do.
In the evenings, you'll find that England's capital city is a great place to enjoy the nightlife, with top quality restaurants, bars
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Following the end of World War II, the people of Norway wished to signify their friendship with Britain and their thanks for protecting King Haakon VII in exile. So, since 1946, they have donated one of their finest specimens of Norwegian Spruce to Britain to become the centrepiece of the Christmas celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London.
Usually on the first Thursday in December, the Lord Mayor of the City of Westminster and the Mayor of Oslo attend a "lighting up" ceremony of 500 or so pure white lights, the traditional way of illuminating a tree in Norway. The lights are
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The West Country Carnival has its origin in a bonfire at the Cornhill in Bridgwater. This was built from a large wooden boat, filled with about 100 tar barrels and whatever other flammable rubbish was available. It is said that this tradition ceased because of a lack of suitable old boats - and the revellers' determination to maintain the custom by turning to good boats as a source of fuel!
There is still a bonfire at the Cornhill each year - but using more sustainable fuel sources. Effigies of the conspirators were traditionally paraded through the streets before being cast onto
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If you’re planning on taking a trip to Mexico, there are literally thousands of things you can do there. One of the most interesting and fulfilling, however, is to go check out some of the numerous cultural sites that are open to the public.
One interesting and lesser known cultural site to check out is the caves in Baja that contain ancient cave paintings from indigenous peoples in the area. They’re a couple of hours drive from the U.S., so you can go there even if you aren’t planning a full-fledged trip. It’s a nice weekend trip for people from
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