Blackpool's Christmas by the Sea is back for 2025!

Blackpool’s spectacular Christmas By The Sea village is returning for 2025. VisitBlackpool has confirmed that the hugely popular outdoor village will open on Friday 21 November with an exciting range of festive family attractions - plus a free skating rink which will open every day until January 4, 2026 (barring Christmas Day).

In addition to the free-to-use skating rink, this year’s village will include festive light installations, themed log cabins with food, drink and gifts and artificial snowfalls.

It will also see a variety of themed children’s attractions, exciting thrill rides including a 100ft-long snow slide, and an aerial swing ride, the Star Flyer. This year will also see the return of a German Swing Grill, Snow Dome Waltzers, a Helter-Skelter slide and Ice Breaker thrill ride. New to the site this year will be a Christmas themed Fun House, set over three floors this new attraction will feature spinning barrels and discs, shuffle boards and special lighting effects.

Christmas By The Sea will be complemented by a full Illuminations display along the seafront after VisitBlackpool announced earlier this year that the Illuminations would once again be extended by two months to run until January 4 2026.

The staging of the village is in association with Blackpool Council and Triangle Attractions.

Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, added: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Christmas By The Sea back to Blackpool this year. It has become such a special part of our annual events calendar and a place where families and friends can come together to experience the festive magic and make lasting memories. With something for everyone, it truly captures the spirit of Christmas.”

Throughout the Christmas By The Sea season, people will be able to park for four hours at many Blackpool Council car parks for just £2, this year the offer includes both Talbot and Central Multi-Storey Car Parks.

The event will be opened at a special celebration that will take place early evening on Friday 21 November. More details to follow.

Don’t forget, there is still plenty more free entertainment to look forward to in Blackpool over the coming weeks and months:

Lightpool Festival

The award-winning Lightpool Festival returns with an amazing free-to-see programme of light installations, 3D projection shows, art trails, and stunning live performances from October 15 –November 1. With the Illuminations season in full swing, this year’s Lightpool Festival has been extended, thanks to funding from the Tourism BID, and will run over 18 nights with an extraordinary collection of national and international light installations.

Supported by Arts Council England, it will include the premiere of 12 new artworks never seen before in the UK as well as projection shows and live performance including the return of the hugely popular Carnival Magic in the Tower Ballroom.

Blackpool Illuminations

The world’s longest running light display is showing every night during our autumn and winter events season, ending on January 4, 2026. This year’s seafront display, stretching more than five miles, includes a series of new features:

• Guardians of the North, a new creation by Illuminations Creative Curator, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Two dragons, each 7 metres tall and wrapped round turrets, have come alive with light, smoke and watchful eyes on the Tower Festival Headland. The installation is complemented by a new projection on The Blackpool Tower building, designed by artist Ant Dickinson. Visitors can join in by scanning a QR code to summon their chosen dragon and see it move across the building.

• Wild Light transforms the Illuminations roadway section into an open-air gallery of acclaimed wildlife artist, Robert E Fuller. Celebrated for capturing the character of Britain’s fauna in exquisite detail, Fuller’s illuminated works feature badgers, foxes, pheasants and birdlife. With more than 910,000 subscribers, Fuller has brought the beauty of the natural world to Blackpool’s famous lights.
• Lusch Puppy by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen brings some canine couture to the Illuminations. These tongue-in-cheek portraits reimagine pampered pooches as regal icons in silks, frills and gilded attire. 
• LOVE by Jason Wilsher-Mills MBE is a six-panel illuminated roadway section inspired by the artist’s childhood memories of Blackpool in 1978. The section tells the story of two characters, from strangers on the beach to a lifetime of dancing in The Blackpool Tower Ballroom. The story is brought to life in his own way through patterns and local motifs. Wilsher-Mills, who has used a wheelchair since contracting chickenpox at age 11, is an award-winning creator whose work celebrates disability, northern working-class heritage and popular culture.
• HUG by internationally acclaimed street artist, My Dog Sighs, makes its debut in the Illuminations. This new roadway feature presents twelve unique versions of the artist’s Everyman character, each set against a vivid backdrop. Over the years, Everyman has become a global symbol of connection, helping to raise tens of thousands for charity and even being minted onto a coin. Now, this much-loved character is brought to life in light.
• Space Canopy is a light installation that stands 11.2 metres tall and uses 350 metres of luminescent wire. Inspired by the bright trails of stars and satellites moving across the night sky, this artwork celebrates the idea of protection and movement. The installation will be available to view towards the start of November.

For more information and updates, including opening times of the rink and other attractions go to: www.visitblackpool.com/cbts.