Blackpool Illuminations: Crowds starting to gather on Headland for tonight's switch on show
Crowds have begun to gather on the Tower Festival Headlands ahead of the 2024 Blackpool Illuminations switch on.
Thousands of people are expected to pack out the closed Promenade for the free event.
Music fans can expect performances from Ella Henderson, Sydnie Christmas and former Pussycat Doll Kimberley Wyatt.
Scary Spice Mel B will officially switch on the lights around 9pm.
Once the big switch is pulled, more than a million twinkling lights will transform the night skies.
Switch-On Line-Up
5pm - 6.30pm: Blackpool Introduces
This year’s show will start with a Blackpool Introduces from The Upbeat Rock Academy, which organises rock music tuition for more than 300 students from across the Fylde Coast. The hour-long showcase will also include House of Wingz, an award-winning hip hop dance crew that has already been featured on prime time national television. Blackpool Introduces will be followed by the main event, a two-hour show hosted by Leanne and Joel, presenters of Hits Radio breakfast show, with a line-up of some top musical talent.
Main show from 7pm – 9.15pm
Sydnie Christmas
Sydnie Christmas, who wowed the public in the BGT final earlier this year, joins the star-studded bill. Sydnie is about to release her debut album, My Way, and embark on her first national tour after being the first woman singer to win Britain’s Got Talent.
Massaoke by Rockstar Weekend
The "Massaoke” show performed by Rockstar Weekend, described by David Walliams as “the greatest party band of all time!” will open the show. This unique mass participation touring production features lyrics from some of the greatest crowd-pleasing hits of all time, on the giant LED screens. It’s the show where you, the general public, become the stars, with the aim of creating the biggest family sing along that Blackpool has ever seen!
Kimberly Wyatt
They will be followed on stage by pop icon and Grammy-nominated artist Kimberly Wyatt. The former member of The Pussycat Dolls will bring her high energy, fun DJ set, featuring some of the biggest tracks of the Noughties, dance hits and other pop classics, as part of the outdoor celebration.
Headliner: Ella Henderson
Headlining the show is Ella Henderson. Ella will perform an extended set from her extensive catalogue of hits. Ella’s music career started as a contestant in The X-Factor before she went on to release her debut album Chapter One, which topped the UK albums chart and spawned several chart successes including the huge hit single, Ghost, as well as Glow and Yours. Three times Brit-nominated Ella has ten Top 10 singles to her name.
9.15pm - 9.30pm: Switch-On Moment with Mel B
To wrap up, the show will finish with the iconic Switch-On moment with Mel B, who will pull the switch to trigger four months of Illuminations. The Spice Girls singer will make a nostalgic return to the resort where her career first started as a 16-year-old dancer in the Mystique show at Pleasure Beach Resort. Mel rose to global fame in the 90s as a member of the Spice Girls in which she was nicknamed Scary Spice. With more than 100 million records sold worldwide, they became the best-selling female group of all time.