List of people who have switched on the Blackpool Illuminations

Illuminations on Blackpool promenade

The Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival, founded in 1879 and held each autumn in the English seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire. In 1934 the town began a tradition of marking the start of the festival by inviting a public figure to perform the inaugural switch on of the lights. For the first public switch on ceremony, the honour was performed by Lord Derby. In subsequent years invitees have predominantly been drawn from the world of entertainment with occasional appearances by sportspeople and political figures. The illuminations have also been turned on by a bomber aircraft and a racehorse.

The 2016 switch-on was performed by actress Barbara Windsor.

List of switchers on

YearInviteeReference
1934Lord Derby[1]
1935 Audrey Mossom (Railway Queen of Great Britain) [1]
1936 Sir Josiah Stamp [1]
1937 Prince George, Duke of Kent [1]
1938 Councillor Mrs Quayle [1]
1939-48 Cancelled due to World War II [1]
1949 Anna Neagle [1]
1950 Wilfred Pickles [1]
1951 Stanley Matthews [1]
1952 Valerie Hobson [1]
1953 George Formby [1]
1954 Gilbert Harding [1]
1955 Yakov Malik (Soviet Ambassador) [1]
1956 Reginald Dixon [1]
1957 John H. Whitney (American Ambassador) [1]
1958 AE "Matty" Matthews [1]
1959 Jayne Mansfield [1]
1960 Janet Munro [1]
1961 Violet Carson [1]
1962 Shirley Anne Field [1]
1963 Cliff Michelmore [1]
1964 Gracie Fields [1]
1965 David Tomlinson [1]
1966 Ken Dodd [1]
1967 Horace King [1]
1968 Matt Busby [1]
1969 Canberra Bomber [1]
1970 Tony Blackburn [1]
1971 The cast of Dad's Army [1]
1972 Danny La Rue [1]
1973 Gordon Banks [1]
1974 Wendy Craig [1]
1975 Cast of Doctor Who: Tom Baker (in costume as The Doctor), Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter [1]
1976 Carol Jean Grant (Miss United Kingdom) [1]
1977 Red Rum [1]
1978 Terry Wogan [1]
1979 Kermit the Frog and The Muppets [1]
1980 Cannon and Ball [1]
1981 Earl & Countess Spencer [1]
1982 Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward [1]
1983 Cast of Coronation Street, switched on by Doris Speed [1]
1984 Johannes Rau (Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia) and David Waddington,(Minister of State, the Home Office) [1]
1985 Joanna Lumley, BBC Children in Need, and Audrey Mossom (50 year anniversary) [1]
1986 Les Dawson [1]
1987 Frank Bough, Anne Gregg and Kathy Tayler, all from the BBC's Holiday programme [1]
1988 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman [1]
1989 Frank Bruno [1]
1990 Julie Goodyear and Roy Barraclough [1]
1991 Derek Jameson and Judith Chalmers [1]
1992 Lisa Stansfield [1]
1993 Status Quo [1]
1994 Shirley Bassey [1]
1995 Bee Gees [1]
1996 Eternal [1]
1997 Michael Ball [1]
1998 Chris de Burgh [1]
1999 Gary Barlow [1]
2000 Westlife [1]
2001 Steps [1]
2002 Ronan Keating [1]
2003 Blue [1]
2004 Geri Halliwell [1][2]
2005 Chris Evans [3]
2006 Dale Winton [4]
2007 David Tennant [5]
2008 The Stig with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from BBC Top Gear [6]
2009 Alan Carr [7]
2010 Robbie Williams [8]
2011 Keith Lemon [9]
2012 6 of Team GB's London 2012 medalists. (Beth Tweddle, Greg Rutherford, Karina Bryant, Luke Campbell, Max Whitlock and Sophie Hosking) [10]
2013 Jonathan Ross [11]
2014 Peter Kay [12]
2015 Tim Burton [13]
2016 Barbara Windsor [14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 "Switch On Celebrities". Blackpool Tourism. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  2. ↑ "Geri Halliwell to switch on Blackpool Illuminations (From The Bolton News)". Theboltonnews.co.uk. 2004-08-27. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  3. ↑ "UK | England | Lancashire | Blackpool marks 126th light year". BBC News. 2005-09-02. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  4. ↑ "UK | England | Lancashire | Dale Winton to light up Blackpool". BBC News. 2006-08-31. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  5. ↑ "UK | England | Lancashire | Dr Who switches on illuminations". BBC News. 2007-08-31. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  6. ↑ "Top Gear duo turn on illuminations". Express.co.uk. 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  7. ↑ "UK | England | Lancashire | Comic turns on Blackpool lights". BBC News. 2009-09-05. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  8. ↑ "BBC News - Robbie Williams switches on Blackpool illuminations". bbc.co.uk. 2010-09-03. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  9. ↑ "BBC News - Thousands see Keith Lemon switch on Blackpool illuminations". bbc.co.uk. 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  10. ↑ "BBC News - Blackpool Illuminations switched on by Olympic medallists". bbc.co.uk. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  11. ↑ "Gary Barlow plays at Blackpool Illuminations gig". BBC News. 2013-08-30.
  12. ↑ "Peter Kay to switch on Blackpool Illuminations". BBC News. 2013-07-18.
  13. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-34141342
  14. ↑ http://www.visitblackpool.com/switch-weekend-proves-hit-dame-barbara-windsor-switches-blackpool-illuminations/
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