A very warm welcome to Lancashire!

Blackpool’s award-winning Lightpool Festival is back for October half-term. The festival will provide a spectacular mix of live performance, light-based art installations, the return of the illuminated tram parade and a special collaboration with BBC Philharmonic.

On Sunday July 1^st the historic house plays host to the 19^th Leighton ‘Classic Car and Bike Show’, and proudly for the area, it’s one of the largest on the classic car summer show circuit, with over 500 exhibitors expected to fill the park and thrill the crowds.

The hugely popular Silverdale and Arnside Art and Craft Trail is back for its 14^th year! This free annual event is hosted by the neighbouring villages of Silverdale in Lancashire and Arnside in Cumbria and this year runs from Friday 22- Sunday 24 June.

A renowned Lancashire hotel is marking an historic anniversary milestone with the production of its very own brand of quality gin.

There will be nowhere bigger and better to watch England’s bid for World Cup glory than at Poolfoot Farm.

Bitterns are breeding at RSPB Leighton Moss in Silverdale for the first time in a decade, following the introduction of new methods of managing the nature reserve four years ago.

Internationally renowned producer Martin Dodd for UK Productions will be presenting for the very first time Beauty and The Beast as a pantomime at Blackpool's Grand Theatre this year.

Go wild as Matt Terry – Winner of 2016’s X-Factor is announced to play Alex The Lion in the brand-new stage adaptation of Madagascar – The Musical  heading to the Opera House Blackpool for one week only from Tuesday 11 September 2018.

Get ready to jitterbug, jive, swing and lindy hop the night away when The Blackpool Tower Ballroom becomes centre stage for a spectacular Dance for Victory.

Actress and singer Kira Kosarin, star of the hit Nickelodeon TV series The Thundermans joins the resident act line up for this year’s sold out SLIMEFEST.

EARLY DOORS, Britain’s best loved pub sitcom has today added a further date to its first ever live tour at Blackpool Winter Gardens on 3 October 2018.

Be prepared for another fun filled weekend in Lancashire this weekend - 2 - 3 June 2018.

Turner Prize-winner Lubaina Himid's Hard Times - a large scale exhibition of her work at the Harris Museum, Preston, has been on display throughout April and May and will close 3 June 2018.

This summer Morecambe Bay hosts a new Wild Weekend Family Camp. Bring a tent and set up home for a few nights alongside the beautiful woodlands and coastline of Morecambe Bay.  Discover the natural wonders of the landscape with experts from the region and spend some fun quality time together as a family.

Today is the day ICON the UK’s first ever double launch rollercoaster opens to the public ready to offer guests to the park a unique and thrilling new experience

It’s here, the bank holiday weekend and sun is still shining! Here in Lancashire there’s so many fab events and things to do across the county throughout the weekend.

Lancashire is fast-becoming the must-visit foodie destination and that is thanks to our fit-to-bursting larder of amazing food and drink from some of the country’s most sought-after producers, to pioneering chefs the likes of Paul Heathcote MBE and Nigel Haworth, to our increasing list of award-winning pubs and restaurants...

People are being encouraged to visit and check out Chorley between Saturday 26 May and Sunday 3 June as part of a dedicated Check Out Chorley Week.

Keith Jack, Mica Paris and Jorgie Porter To Star In Fame - The Musical 30th Anniversary Tour.

Chorley's very own food and drink event, A Taste of Chorley, is just around the corner and people can now enter the Chorley Cake competition.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach's NEW £16.25m rollercoaster ICON opens to the public.

After much anticipation, Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s new £16.25M rollercoaster ICON finally opens to the public this Friday 25th May.

May half term is upon us. Luckily, there's lots going on across Lancashire throughout the holidays - Monday 29 May - 4 June 2018.

Blackpool Winter Gardens announce that X- Factor sensation Holly Tandy will stepping into Dorothy’s iconic ruby slippers in this year’s unforgettable adventure, The Wizard of Oz at Blackpool Opera House alongside Blackpool Radio Wave’s Scott Gallagher as the Cowardly Lion from 07 Dec – 30 Dec. 

Eight greater flamingo chicks have hatched at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre this week.

Amost the Worldwide TV Audience Will Be ... as 79-Year-Old Giant Sea Turtle Watching Her 16th Royal Wedding.

This May half term sees the return of the award winning egg-to-duckling experience at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre.

Visiting Accrington’s Haworth Art Gallery is like stepping into a jewellery box. The oak panelled entrance hall and richly carved interior features are classic examples of the Arts and Crafts movement.
 

The Ribble Valley’s stunning landscape and rich heritage is integral to the food grown and produce made here. Enjoy a delicious 24 hours eating your way around this bountiful part of Lancashire.

The Spinning Block Hotel at Holmes Mill in the pretty Lancashire market town of Clitheroe is now fully open for business.

Virgin Trains has recreated its iconic Pendolino train on Blackpool beach to celebrate its first visit to the seaside resort today.

ICON the UK’s first double launch coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on 25 May 2018. To celebrate the opening we thought we share some interesting and record breaking facts about the UK’s favourite seaside resort.
 

The four star Lancaster House Hotel is inviting brides-to-be, and their families and friends, to attend a bridal showcase, in support of North West Cancer Research on Friday 21 September 2018. The centrepiece of the charity event will be a winner-takes-all prize draw with the chance for a prospective newlywed to tie the knot, virtually cost free.

We get a lot of feedback from guests saying how they really appreciate the new additions and improvements we continue to make at The Spa Hotel.

It’s here, the bank holiday weekend and the Met Office have promised us sunshine!
Here in Lancashire there’s so many fab events and things to do across the county throughout the weekend.

The Fusilier Museum, Bury has teamed up with local photographer Catchlight Portraits to create a new exhibition which tells the personal stories of life as a Fusilier.

The SPA Hotel at Ribby Hall Village is celebrating after winning its best ever 4-Star Silver status from the AA. It is the only hotel in Lancashire to hold this grading.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has announced the official opening date of its hotly anticipated new rollercoaster – ICON, as Friday 25th May.

Lancashire has some of the best country walking in England, from short, gentle rambles to long distance treks allowing you to enjoy some of the best views and vistas the county has to offer.

Bringing the boreal to Lancashire: Royal Bank of Canada Show Garden is launched at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre.

First Production Images Released of Amelia Lily As 'Princess Fiona' In The Smash Hit Tour Of Shrek The Musical.

"The world's favourite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May" - Edwin Way Treale.

With the longer days, lighter nights, 2 bank holidays and May Half Term we have got lots to shout about this month here in Lancashire.

Opera House, Blackpool’s Upcoming Run of Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends the Musical Marks the Nations Last Chance to See the Hit New Musical.

As the world watched and waited for the arrival of the royal baby keepers at Blackpool Zoo were heralding their own special delivery – and have named him in honour of the new prince.
 

One of Lancaster’s best loved pubs, The Borough, is celebrating it’s 12th birthday in style with a brand-new feature staircase showcasing some of the regions best loved books.

On your marks, get set, go…………. WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre is making a splash this bank holiday weekend with the fifth annual plastic duck race on Monday 7 May.

2018 version gives access to £20m of new visitor attractions including the ICON rollercoaster.

Award winning events company Crafty Vintage are set to be hosting a pop up market in the huge arena space in Market Square.

The amazing GIANT LEGO® brick animal trail, the only one of its kind in the UK, is returning to WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre this spring with three NEW friends including Sam the Short-eared Owl.   

THE GROUNDBREAKING SMASH HIT UK PRODUCTION OF GREEN DAY'S AMERICAN IDIOT - WITH MUSIC BY PUNK POP & MULTI GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING BAND GREEN DAY RETURNS TO THE UK FOR A SPECIAL 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

We have put together our 'bucket and spade' list to help inspire and uncover some of the many unique Lancashire experiences and hidden gems waiting for you to discover and capture.

The team at Leighton Hall in Carnforth, has cause for 24 carat celebrations this month as they prepare to mark their diamond anniversary.

Join The Three Musketeers as they swashbuckle their way across Lancaster parkland this summer.

Returning Lulu becomes star of the show for 'turtly amazing' new marine conservation experience. She weighs a whopping 28 stone – and is nearly 80 years old!

You don’t get more stunning natural scenery than this to display one of the largest collections of classic cars on show this summer.   Set against the backdrop of the Lake District fells, Mark Woodward has over 500 historic vehicles heading for the 19^th Leighton ‘Classic Car and Bike Show’ on Sunday July 1^st.

John Ruskin, the Victorian artist, poet and art critic famously wrote of the Lune Valley ‘I do not know in all my own country, still less in France and Italy, a place more naturally divine.’

Three black swan cygnets have hatched at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre just in time for Easter!

Marking 40 years since its famous UK cinema release, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER is reimagined and revitalised in a big new music and dance spectacular.

Are you’re looking for an egg hunt with a bit of difference this Easter? Why not join the Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s Living Seas project on the beach for one of our Great Easter Egg Case Hunts?

From Saturday 21 April until Sunday 17 June 2018, the Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery will play host to an exhibition by acclaimed artist, Liam Spencer.  

The original tribute from London's West End.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has unveiled the rollercoaster carriage for its new ride – ICON, this week, as the ride is launched for the very first time.

If you're looking for more adventurous activities for teenagers and older children over the holidays then look no further. 1. Blackpool Pleasure Beach The biggest, the fastest and the best. Book i..

Just because it’s winter that’s no excuse to pack away the picnic gear and hide away indoors.

People looking for a great day or night out in 2018 are in for another action-packed year as Chorley Council announces details of its programme of events.

Blackpool’s 2018 tourism season was officially launched today (Tuesday 20^thMarch) with the unveiling of three major new visitor attractions, new events and a spectacular programme of live entertainment.

Morecambe Bay is a place of big views and big skies. The vast sands and mud flats are nature’s larder for hundreds of thousands of birds, and it is one of the most important places in Britain for birdlife.

Lancaster Festival Brings A Showcase Of Amazing New Talent To The Stage

3-day city music festival, Highest Point descends on Williamson Park from 18th May - 20th May and will play host to a huge range of acts taking to the iconic Williamson Park in the heart of Lancaster.

HELP! Calling all kids - we’ve lost our GIANT yellow ducks and we need you and your family to help  find them at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre this Easter (24 March - 8 April).

#ThisIsMe says Blackpool’s Grand Theatre as it brings together some of the best nights of live entertainment.

Easter is symbolic to many as the start of new beginnings, new lives and of course the obligatory oodles of chocolate! And this year, Lancashire’s only five star holiday village - Ribby Hall Village – has all the above in abundance; leaving you no egg-cuses not to indulge!

Working in partnership with the IT development team at Lancaster University, the Duchy of Lancaster has today launched a brand new web-based digital and virtual reality tour of Lancaster Castle.

The art-deco Midland Hotel in Morecambe is to play host to a charity high tea event organised by an aid worker to help young people in Africa.

An incredible list of over 35 shows and 160 nights of live entertainment.

Liverpool-based Real Ale Events are bringing back a Beer & Cider Festival to Blackpool this coming March. The company organise large scale beer festivals and after their success across the North West, branched out to Blackpool.

Thanks to the BBC, nine year old Thornton school boy and avid animal lover Austin Trickett has had a dream come true… to work alongside his father as zoo keeper for the day.  The children’s BBC TV Channel CBeebies approached Ribby Hall Village’s Wild Discovery which is an educational and interactive wildlife centre and zoo. 

Indie Favourites To Join International Dance Music Legend Sasha and Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard In Festival Never Seen Before In Lancaster.

Brand new stage musical Summer Holiday is set to tour the UK from May 2018, with the famous red double-decker bus making its stop at the Opera House Blackpool from Tuesday 24 – Saturday 28 July 2018.

The final piece of track was installed in Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s new £16.25 million rollercoaster – ICON yesterday (14 February).

SHREK THE MUSICAL® has arrived, stomping into 2018 with a critically acclaimed new UK and Ireland tour and the release of the official full-length trailer to celebrate its star cast in action on the hit West End and Broadway musical. With additional dates added by popular demand, SHREK THE MUSICAL® is now out on the road on a 24-venue national tour until January 2019, arriving at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre this week. 

To celebrate 50 years one of the world’s favourite films, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the musical of the same name will be coming to Blackpool and will have audiences of all ages flying high with its mixture of madness, intrigue and exuberance.

Although much more associated with Yorkshire, The Brontë sisters actually spent much of their lives in Lancashire walking from the family home at Haworth across the South Pennine Moors.

Alice Broadway, a writer from Buckshaw Village, has been nominated for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2018, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades in the world of children’s books. Announced today, Wednesday 7th February, Broadway is shortlisted in the Older Fiction category for her book Ink.

Strictly Come Dancing - The Professionals is returning to venues across the country from May 2019 for a 35 date UK tour. Heading to the Opera House Blackpool on 15 May 2019,  Tickets for this dance spectacular will go on general sale on Thursday 15 February at 10am.

Britney Spears adds extra dates to European "Britney: Piece Of Me" Tour including Blackpool date!

EastEnders’ Rita Simons, Lucie Jones, who represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with ‘Never Give Up On You, and Bill Ward, star of Coronation Street and Emmerdale are to star in a major new UK tour of  the smash-hit Broadway and West End musical Legally Blonde The Musical.

French Impressionist painting on display at Harris makes links with Preston - past and present.

Following the success of the 2017 the Great North West Motorbike Festival returns for 2018, the event will return to the Winter Gardens Blackpool this August for another 2-day event.

This is Elvis, a brand-new musical from Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield arrives in Blackpool for one week only!

Blackpool Zoo’s tiniest troop member has taken his first tentative steps at almost five months old.

Due to a phenomenal critical and public reaction during the opening weeks of the extensive UK Tour, Natasha Hamilton will extend her performance dates in Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends the Musical.

Award-winning musicians and singer-songwriters are the latest headliners to be announced for Lytham Festival 2018. George Ezra will be joined by Emeli Sandé in the Main Proms Arena on Lytham Green on Friday July 20.

The next time you tuck into a sirloin steak you might want to spare a thought for Sir Richard De Hoghton of Hoghton Tower near Preston.

This February half term (10 – 18 Feb), children of all ages are being encouraged to grab their wellies, get outside and join in the fourth annual North West Puddle Jumping Championships being held at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre in Lancashire.

Nickelodeon UK are partnering again with VisitBlackpool to bring Nickelodeon’s SLIMEFEST back to the UK’s favourite beach resort for a third year of slime, music and mayhem following last year’s six sold out shows. SLIMEFEST 2018 will take place at The Arena at Blackpool Pleasure Beach from 20th – 22nd October.

There is something for everyone, with countryside, canals, coast and towns. Enjoy stunning views, quiet lanes, rare wildlife and our famous Lancashire coastline.

That time of year is upon us once more, panto season.

Did you know an incredible 1.5 million waders spend the winter on the UK's tidal mudflats. That's nearly half of all Europe's population!

If you’ve ever wondered where your favourite TV series was filmed, or been momentarily distracted by a stunning view in the background of a film and thought you’d like to go there, you are not alone.

One of the unique things about eating out in Lancashire is that you’re very likely to be tucking into produce that was grown up the road by a family who’ve produced it for generations.

Blackpool’s beautiful Grade II* listed Grand Theatre attracts the best in award-winning touring companies, including The National Theatre, English Touring Theatre, UK Productions, Opera and Ballet International and the Russian State Ballet. But here's 10 things you might not know about 'Blackpool's hidden gem'.