Lightpool is a public art installation described as "a celebration of art, light, music and performance". It is a collaboration between Arts Council England, Blackpool Tourism BID, The Blackpool Tower, Grundy Art Gallery, LeftCoast, the UK Government, Visit Blackpool and Winter Gardens Blackpool. It runs for the second half of October each year.
There are 24 installations dotted along the prom and around the prom side of town.
It was freezing and approximately 300mph winds when we went. As a result, we did not see everything. We took Mitch's friend Arthur with us; Fin did not want to come. We parked on the car park by the old, and now removed, police station off Central Drive. As per usual, we called at Coral Island for a wee. It was heaving.
On the Comedy Carpet area of the prom you'll find Medusae, a trio of lit-up jellyfish; Guardians of the North, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's dragons guarding the Tower; White Tiger, an advert for a film; and Spiro, a walk-through tunnel of light.
At the far end of the carpet was my favourite: Phenix, an 11 x 15 x 5m LED bird with a soundtrack. The soundtrack to the installation finishes with the sounds of deforestation and is designed to highlight the ecological consequences inflicted on ecosystems by man. Very highbrow!
Mitch and Arthur started to get hungry by the time we got here, so they got a Wendy's burger to top them up. I saved myself for some chips on the way back to the car. When the young 'uns were fed and watered, we walked up Victoria Street towards the Winter Gardens.
When you turn off the prom, you're met by Aqualux Wall, a 16 x 3m installation of 48 empty 1,000 litre water containers lit with a soundtrack. It represents the water an average human uses at home in a year.
On the way up to the Winter Gardens you'll find The Chocolate Shop and Gull Power. The Chocolate Shop is exactly that: an empty shop with animations projected into and onto chocolate boxes. The kids enjoyed this one; they got chocolates from the Lightpool person inside. Just a bit further up the street is Gull Power, a psychedelic multimedia artwork celebrating the gulls of Blackpool.
Inside the Winter Gardens Grand Vestibule is Eternal Ensemble, a set of projections floating on transparent screens and the roof of Aileen Williams playing her cello. Very arty!
The Winter Gardens Olympia hosts Ataraxie, an installation that asks us to question what "peace of mind" means in a post-pandemic world, or so the booklet says. It's a bunch of lasers on swinging arms that fill the space with light patterns. This was everyone else's favourite.
Lightpool is a great event to wrap up the autumn. Everyone wearing hi-viz representing the show was warm and friendly, and the installations have something for all tastes. It is probably too late for this year; the event ran from October 15th to November 1st 2025. Keep your eye on the Lightpool website for next year.
