News
Blackpool Illuminations is getting a huge £13M upgrade with loads of new light features
The display will gain a number of new and sustainable light features
Blackpool Illuminations is getting a huge £13M upgrade with a plethora of new light features.
A number of new and modernised lights will be added to the display which, for the first time in its history, has been extended by two months until January 3rd.
A report setting out the details said the aim was to ‘rejuvenate’ the illuminations through ‘modernisation and innovation’, with it stating, as per The BBC: “This will be done by designing and creating a number of new centrepiece attractions over a five-year period.”
@Kmtextor / Wikimedia Commons
The report also stressed that the display will be modernised to ensure it is ‘efficient and sustainable.’
The upgrade will be partly funded by the town’s £39.5m Town Deal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
This comes just a month after this year’s display came under fire for promoting racial undertones, with Blackpool Council being forced to defend the design.
The light display in question, located north of Blackpool Promenade near the junction of Cavendish Road, depicts six axe-wielding Native Americans in war bonnets dancing around a totem pole, something that reinforces racial stereotypes according to a member of the Chickasaw Nation.
Steve Daniels / Geograph
A Blackpool Council spokesperson said that the lights were ‘designed and created many years ago and intended to be a celebration of different cultures’ – but added that their continued use in upcoming years would be addressed.
The spokesperson said: “Our officers have been in constructive discussion with two people of Native American origin who raised concerns about the tableau.
“We have explained the background to the historic elements of the Illuminations display and assured them that these were designed and created many years ago and intended to be a celebration of different cultures. Both have accepted that assurance.”