Date set for when Blackpool and Preston welcome Queen's baton relay route for 2022 Commonwealth Games

Blackpool and Preston are included in the final leg of the Queen's baton relay route for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and will welcome the ‘batonbearers’ in July.
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With just months to go until Birmingham hosts the Commonwealth Games, the routes and dates have now been revealed.

The 2,500 mile final leg of the baton relay route includes 180 towns, cities and villages up and down England.

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It will start with a five day tour of London coinciding with the Platinum Jubilee on June 2.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 07: Queen Elizabeth II passes her baton to the baton bearer, British parasport athlete Kadeena Cox, during the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay for Birmingham 2022, the XXII Commonwealth Games at Buckingham Palace on October 7, 2021 in London, England. The Queen and The Earl of Wessex are Patron and Vice-Patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation respectively. (Photo by Victoria Jones - WPA Pool/Getty Images)LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 07: Queen Elizabeth II passes her baton to the baton bearer, British parasport athlete Kadeena Cox, during the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay for Birmingham 2022, the XXII Commonwealth Games at Buckingham Palace on October 7, 2021 in London, England. The Queen and The Earl of Wessex are Patron and Vice-Patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation respectively. (Photo by Victoria Jones - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 07: Queen Elizabeth II passes her baton to the baton bearer, British parasport athlete Kadeena Cox, during the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay for Birmingham 2022, the XXII Commonwealth Games at Buckingham Palace on October 7, 2021 in London, England. The Queen and The Earl of Wessex are Patron and Vice-Patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation respectively. (Photo by Victoria Jones - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
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The relay will then continue with a tour across England, including the North West, before marking the start of The Games at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham for the opening ceremony on the July 28.

It reaches Blackpool and Preston on Saturday July 16, when it will also somehow have time to pass though Carlisle, the Lake District, Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton.

In Blackpool the relay team will call into the famous Tower Ballroom and this part of the journey has been flagged up as one of the highlights of the entire North West route.

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Thousands of these 'batonbearers' will be taking turns along the journey - between 40 and 130 each day of the route.

They been chosen for making a difference to their local communities.

It will have taken 294 days and trips to each of the 72 nations that make up the Commonwealth by the time the final mile has been completed at the end of July.

Phil Batty, director of ceremonies, culture and Queen's Baton Relay, said: “A lot of work had gone into planning the route, it symbolises connecting people from every corner of the Commonwealth,

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"It also celebrates Batonbearers who take on challenges and marks the countdown to the biggest sporting event in the West Midlands' history".

He added: "We hope communities across the country join the excitement, attend events near them, line the streets to cheer on our incredible Batonbearers and celebrate the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games."

Dame Louise Martin, Commonwealth Games Federation president, said: "The Queen's Baton Relay symbolises hope, solidarity and collaboration across the Commonwealth at a time when it is needed most."