Strictly Come Dancing stars Lauren Oakley and Graziano Di Prima come to open the village
Two of the BBC show’s professional dancers will officially launch this year’s Village by the Sea on Friday 17 November – the eve of Strictly Come Dancing’s long-awaited return to the world-famous Tower Ballroom.
Lauren Oakley and Graziano Di Prima will open the rink accompanied by talented youngsters from two Blackpool performance centres.
This year’s village includes a host of new festive family attractions – as well as extended opening hours for the free skating rink, which will be open daily until January 1 (except Christmas Day).
The official opening will take place at approximately 5.30pm at the Tower Festival Headland, which has been transformed into a winter wonderland.
The opening ceremony will be hosted by radio presenter Hayley Kaye, and will include a festive performance from Scream Theater Schools students, followed by a skating demonstration with children from the Blackpool Ice Drome Charities Association (BIDCA) and young skater Amelia Kislitsyn performing a fantastic performance. A special routine before the rink opens to the public by Lauren and Giovanni.
Read more: I spoke to Strictly’s Angela R, Angela S, Annabel, Ellie and co ahead of their show in Blackpool this weekend.
With a free skating rink as its centerpiece, the village includes festive light installations, projection displays, themed log cabins, artificial snowfall, Christmas trees and tram rides.
The village will also see dedicated children’s attractions, including a new 100ft snow slide and the return of the Star Flyer, which at 196ft is one of the tallest swings in Europe.
Last year, the Christmas By The Sea festival, held on the headland opposite Blackpool Tower, had the highest number of visitors ever recorded on the seafront during the winter months.
The village is organized in collaboration with the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID), Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Triangle Attractions.
The village will be completed with a full illuminations display along the seafront after VisitBlackpool announced earlier this year that the illuminations would be extended again by two months to run from 1 September until 1 January. The annual display includes nightly projection displays at the front of Blackpool Tower, sponsored by Northern Railway.
For full details, including opening times for the rink and other attractions, go to: Visitblackpool.com
