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.
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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The annual Edinburgh Festivals are regarded world wide as some of the best Europe has to offer in terms of film, literature and music. Every year it is estimated that the population of Edinburgh doubles as the city becomes one of the most vibrant places to be in all of Europe. However, despite this worldwide recognition, only a third of the visitors are locals which means many Britons are failing to take advantage of this fantastic short break opportunity available to them right on their doorstep.
Starting in 1947, the Edinburgh Festival has grown into the largest festival in the
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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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Although Carnival has almost universal appeal wherever the Roman Catholic Church has a substantial presence, the level and extent of celebration varies enormously, ranging from hugely popular, highly developed, commercially supported, tourist-inspired events down to small celebrations within a locality which may only involve a few small villages or a small town.
Some of these events are Carnival in its traditional sense, but many have elements of local folklore integrated. The event in Sydney is a Gay & Lesbian Carnival. Some are promoted as Mardi Gras, although not necessarily limiting themselves to the day before Ash Wednesday. Most start two weeks
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The New Year's parade in Hong Kong is an event not to be missed! The city is dressed up with bright decorations and colorful lights for its biggest celebration of the year, and thousands pour into Hong Kong to take part in the festivities.
Winding along Hong Kong's picturesque waterfront, the New Year's parade is filled with colorful, lavishly decorated floats. Representatives from Hong Kong and countries all over the world sing, dance and play music. The songs of marching bands fill the air along the parade's route as performers in bright costumes prance along the streets.
The forthcoming year
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