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What's
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What's
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What's
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Find Out What's On

See below some of the exciting events on in the local area over the coming months.

Calendar
January 14th 2022

Elkie Brooks

Elkie Brooks is quite simply one of the most successful and popular singers the UK has ever produced.

Now in the 6th decade of her career, she is still proving to be one of the most powerful and versatile vocal talents of our generation. With numerous hit singles, million selling albums and awards, her annual tours are treat for fans old and new.

Elkie Brooks is a stunning performer and whatever she does, she does it best live. Don't miss the chance to see a truly great artist in action.

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Calendar
February 22nd 2022

John Bishop: Right Here Right Now

Comedy superstar John Bishop is coming to the Opera House Blackpool with his highly anticipated brand-new stand up show – Right Here, Right Now.

This will be John's eighth stand up show and it is shaping up to be his best yet. It will see him performing across the UK, Ireland, America, Canada and Europe. He can't wait to be back on the road again!!

John has achieved huge success with a number of his own comedy, entertainment and documentary shows including- 'John Bishop's Australia' (BBC1), 'John Bishop's Britain' (BBC1); 'John Bishop's Only Joking' (Sky1); 'The John Bishop Show' (BBC1); 'The John Bishop Christmas Show' (BBC1) and 'John Bishop's Gorilla Adventure' (ITV1). More recently 'John Bishop's Ireland' for ITV1 and four mammoth series of the critically acclaimed 'John Bishop: In Conversation With…' which saw him chatting, one to one with some of the World's biggest, household names.

Note. November 2021 date is a warm-up performance. February 2022 is part of the official tour.

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Calendar
February 26th 2022

Jurassic Earth

A unique, immersive Dinosaur experience for all ages!

The Original & Best Live Dinosaur Show!

Jurassic Earth features roaming, state-of-the-art animatronic life-like Dinosaurs in an interactive and exciting story-telling show, creating a unique, immersive experience for all audiences!

This is an unmissable opportunity to talk to a Triceratops, roar with a T-Rex, look up to a Brontosaurus, scream with a Spinosaurus and run from a Raptor!

Joined by a zany Professor, an eccentric Doctor and a team of Rangers and Dinosaurs bring the Jurassic Era to life in this family-friendly show. Combining entertainment with education, Jurassic Earth brings these remarkable creatures to your local theatre, thrilling not just the children in the audience, but the adults too!

AS SEEN ON TV – Our dinosaurs have featured on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and SKY. You may have seen them most recently on ITV's Dancing On Ice where our naughty Raptor sneaked up on Holly Willoughby and Ashley Banjo!

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Calendar
March 7th to 12th 2022

Catch Me If You Can

US stars, Dallas legend Patrick Duffy (The Man from Atlantis; Step By Step) and Linda Purl (Happy Days; Homeland) fly in from Hollywood for this special production Catch Me If You Can in which they will star alongside Gray O' Brien (Peak Practice; Coronation Street).

To what lengths is a person prepared to go?

Inspector Levine is called to a house in the remote Catskill mountains to investigate the disappearance of newly married Elizabeth Corban. In a bizarre development a woman arrives at the house claiming to be the missing Elizabeth but, instead of celebrating the reunion, her husband accuses her of being an imposter…

Adapted from French Writer Robert Thomas' play Trap For a Lonely Man, this highly entertaining mystery has been the subject of three successful screenplays.

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Calendar
March 13th 2022

Jimmy Carr: Terribly Funny

Jimmy's brand new show contains jokes about all kinds of terrible things . . . terrible things that might have affected you or people you know and love.

But they're just jokes! They are not the terrible things. Having political correctness at a comedy show is like having health and safety at a rodeo. Now you've been warned, buy a ticket. (Age Guidance: 16+)

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Calendar
March 18th & 19th 2022

North West Stages 2022

Garstang

This year’s event will take place over the weekend of 18th/19th March

The organizer's of the Legend Fires North West Stages Rally are delighted to announce that the popular north west event will run on the 19th March 2022 and will be based in and around the Lancashire market town of Garstang. Once again, Myerscough College are generously providing their facilities for Rally Headquarters and central service area, and Garstang Town Council, who are in full support of the event, will host the popular ceremonial town Centre start on Friday 18th.

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Calendar
March 21st to 1st April 2022

MAMMA MIA!

Join us at MAMMA MIA! and enjoy the ultimate feel-good factor at the world's sunniest and most exhilarating smash-hit musical in Blackpool from 21 March 2023 for 2 weeks only!

Set on a Greek island paradise, a story of love, friendship and identity is cleverly told through the timeless songs of ABBA.

Sophie's quest to discover the father she's never known brings her mother face to face with three men from her distant romantic past on the eve of a wedding they'll never forget.

This irresistibly funny show has been thrilling audiences all around the world and now there's never been a better time to see this unforgettable musical in Blackpool.

Whatever age you are, you can't help but have the time of your life at MAMMA MIA!1

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Calendar
April 22nd 2022

Diversity Connected

After nine sell out UK tours, over 600,000 tickets sold, and countless television and live performances Diversity have announced one of their biggest UK tours to date.

Last year marked 10 years since Diversity took the nation by storm when they won the third series of Britain’s Got Talent. Over the past 10 years thanks to the overwhelming support of their fans and the British public they have continued to wow audiences around the world with their innovative live tours and performances. They celebrated this incredible achievement with a critically acclaimed sell-out 48 show UK tour, Born Ready.

This tour is set to be even bigger, and as Diversity promised their fans on the Born Ready tour, they will continue the legacy of Diversity and never let anyone tell them they cannot achieve something. To take them into the new decade of Diversity, Ashley has created a new show, ‘Connected’, which centres around the world of social media, the internet, and the digital era we now live in, but more importantly how this connects us all.

Creator and choreographer Ashley Banjo said of the forthcoming tour, “Every year that goes by, and every time we get to create a new touring show, I cannot believe we are still lucky enough to get to do this. But even after all this time, we are still growing, and this new decade and new chapter for Diversity is sure to be something even more special than the last. I truly do believe that we are all connected in mores ways than one and I cannot wait to bring this to life on stage.”

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Calendar
May 12th to 14th 2022

Highest Point Festival 2022

Following a hugely successful 2021 weekender, Highest Point will return to Williamson Park in Lancaster in May 2022.

Over 35,000 people attended the festival in 2021 that alongside standout production featured a variety of world class artists including Rudimental, Rag N Bone Man and Rick Astley across the four days, with the Lancaster crowds also treated to a spectacular array of music, arts, performances and food and drink offerings.

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Calendar
May 13th 2022

Michael Kiwanuka

Michael Kiwanuka's third album, KIWANUKA, is out now through Polydor Records. It arrives to much critical acclaim as one of Britain's most talented songwriters resets the bar once again.

To coincide with the album's release, Michael is incredibly excited to announce his show date here in Blackpool in the Empress Ballroom on the 13th May 2021

KIWANUKA is the follow-up to Michael's number 1 second album, Love & Hate, released back in July 2016 that resonated broadly both critically and in the public's affections, netting the British musician his second Mercury Prize nomination and his second and third BRIT nominations too.

Over 14s only, under 18s accompanied by an adult.

Ticket limit updated to 4.*

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Calendar
May 17th 2022

Alan Partridge: Stratagem

Love him or loathe him, we all love Alan Partridge.

Over a multi-decade broadcasting career, this wonderful and surprisingly well-read man has brought delight to millions of ordinary people the nation over.

Which is why, with the country riven with discord, beset with disease, and niggled by bickering, Alan is touring the country with a message of hope, a new way of thinking.

Welcome to STRATAGEM WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE, a live stage show that promises to inform, educate and entertain in approximately equal measure.

Wearing a head-mic favoured by TED talkers, market hawkers, TV evangelists, backing singers and carnival barkers, Alan will perform a stage show that combines all of these roles and more. It's a manifesto for the way we can move forward, a roadmap to a better tomorrow, an ABC for the way to be.

Devised, written, produced, choreographed, performed and funded by Alan Partridge, Stratagem will see Alan - in person but with heavy security - not just treading the boards but pounding them, atop stages graced by such luminaries as Michael Ball, Jack Whitehall and Welsh rockers the Stereophonics.

So join Alan, live on stage, (though patrons are asked not to join Alan live on stage) as he brings STRATAGEM to a city or selected good-sized town near you.

STRATAGEM WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE. Join him.

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Calendar
May 25th 2022

Sarah Millican: Bobby Dazzler

The hilarious Sarah Millican is back on tour with a Bobby Dazzler of a new stand-up show.

In this, her sixth international tour, you'll learn about what happens when your mouth seals shut, how to throw poo over a wall, trying to lose weight but only losing the tip of your finger, a surprisingly funny smear test, and how truly awful a floatation tank can actually be.

Sarah has spent the last year writing jokes and growing her backside. She can't wait to get back on the road and make you laugh.

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Calendar
May 25th & 26th 2022

Strictly Come Dancing - The Professionals UK Tour

Strictly Come Dancing fans will be delighted to hear the FAB-U-LOUS news that Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals 2022 will waltz back to Blackpool in 2022 for 2 dates.

Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals tour has been scheduled for 2022. This will ensure that fans with tickets for performances for the 2021 Professionals tour that couldn't be rescheduled this year due to venue availability will not miss out.

The tour will open on 28 April 2022 in Salford and then visit Cardiff, Hull, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Brighton, London, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Oxford, Nottingham, Leeds, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

The pro dancer line-up for this tour will be announced later this year. All ticket holders for shows that are being rescheduled will be contacted in due course by their point of purchase to detail the ticket exchange process.

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Calendar
May 27th 2022

Tony Hadley 40th Anniversary Tour

One of the most renowned voices in British music, Tony Hadley, has announced a huge UK tour for 2022, celebrating a remarkable 40 years in music.

Celebrating four decades since Tony first released music with his former band Spandau Ballet (originally planned for 2020), the tour, which will see Tony perform with his band 'The Fabulous TH Band', will call at 36 dates across the country, concluding at the Blackpool Opera House on 27th May.

Tony's unmistakeable voice still brims with passion and urgency as it first did all those years ago. Fitting for what will be a big celebration of one of the biggest voices in pop, Tony will perform tracks from across his career both as the voice of Spandau Ballet, and as a solo artist.

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Calendar
June 3rd 2022

Garstang Children's Festival

Garstang Children's Festival is held at Whitsuntide on the spring bank holiday Monday.

It is an event for children and adults alike and has been going on in Garstang for generations.

It is a totally free event and open to all.

The next Children's Festival will be the 150th celebration and will be on FRIDAY 3rd June 2022 due to the change in bank holidays.

This year it will be bigger and better than ever before!

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Calendar
June 10th & 11th 2022

Jane McDonald Live in Concert

One of the nation's best-loved entertainers, is back with her phenomenal new live show!

The BAFTA award-winning star of Cruising with JANE MCDONALD and Jane & Friends always delivers a stunning performance and along with her fantastic live band, guarantees to bring the audience to their feet with this evening of music and laughter!

With a sell-out show at the Opera House Blackpool this year, book early to secure your seat for what promises to be another memorable evening.

JANE MCDONALD is back in 2022 with her brand new 'Let the Light In' tour.

The BAFTA award-winning star always delivers phenomenal show along with her fantastic live band and backing singers. With stunning production and a new line-up of songs her 'Let the Light In' tour promises to be the best one yet.

After her sell out tours of 2018 and 2019 you'll need to book early to secure your seat for this fabulous evening of music and laughter.

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Calendar
June 17th-19th June 2022

Blackpool International Soul Festival 2022

In these exceptionally difficult times for us all and with your health uppermost in our minds, we have had to take the difficult decision to postpone the event for 2021. The new dates for 2022 will now take place over the weekend of June 17th-19th June 2022

All tickets already purchased for June 2020 will now be valid for the rescheduled dates.

We have spent the last few days talking to all the artists who were due to appear, and the support shown by them has been simply overwhelming, as it has been from yourselves, The Blackpool International Soul Festival family.

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Calendar
June 28nd to 2nd July 2022

Chicago

CHICAGO, the "sexiest musical ever" (Metro) is back in Blackpool this summer for 1 week only starring Coronation Street's Faye Brookes (Dancing On Ice, Grease, Legally Blonde) as Roxie Hart, and West End star Djalenga Scott (Annie, Chicago, West Side Story) as Velma Kelly.

"Murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery and treachery…all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts" So begins the international multi-award-winning musical, CHICAGO.

Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago's slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today's tabloids.

Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, CHICAGO's sexy, sassy score with one show-stopping song after another includes "Razzle Dazzle", "Cell Block Tango", and "All That Jazz". With 6 Tony Awards, 2 Olivier Awards, a Grammy® and thousands of standing ovations, CHICAGO truly is "SUPERB" (Daily Telegraph).

Don't miss out, book now! It would be criminal to miss it...

*Cast and performance schedule subject to change without notice.

Tickets on sale Friday 10 Dec at 11am

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Calendar
June 28th to 7th July 2022

Lytham Festival 2022

Lytham Festival enters a new, post-covid decade, and 2022 will see a ten night line-up of live music light up Lytham Green once again. This tranquil beauty spot is normally reserved for dog walkers, kite flyers and family picnics but for one week each summer it’s transformed into a buzzing live music hub as artists from across the globe perform to crowds of up to 20,000 people a night.

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Calendar
JULY 1st to 3rd 2022

GARSTANG SCARECROW FESTIVAL

Garstang Scarecrow Festival summer weekend will begin 2pm on Friday 1st July right through to Sunday 3rd July 2022. Scarecrow trail, funfair, live music, Icecream, children’s entertainment +more. Funfair open Saturday and Sunday

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Calendar
JULY 16th & 17th 2022

The Great Eccleston Show

The Great Eccleston Show is a two day event and is a showcase for every aspect of rural endeavour and the whole range of crafts and skills associated with the country. With cooking, handicraft, horticulture and local arts, this north west agricultural show is a big attraction to townspeople and country folk alike. We have classes for Shire horses, sheep, pigs and poultry, light horses, goats, tractor-pulling and a ‘companion’ dog show. Traditional rural crafts can be seen alongside the latest in agricultural technology.

At the Great Eccleston Show you’ll find marquees displaying everything from fruit and flowers to cakes, cheese and chutneys, a big food hall featuring local produce along with a food theatre, demonstrations of traditional rural craftsmen at work, sheep herding, sheep shearing, bee keeping, a Victorian fun fare, stunt riders, Cumberland wrestling, Memory Marquee and lots more – there really is something for everyone.

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Calendar
JULY 17th 2022

GARSTANG ICE CREAM FESTIVAL

A festival following a theme of ice cream is the first of its kind in the area. We’re fortunate to have many wonderful ice cream parlours, many of which will be attending our Festival.

The event will not only just host more ice cream than you can possibly imagine, we also have some unique hot food vendors, live entertainment, competitions and loads of fun and games.

Organised by the Independent Garstang Traders, the Garstang Ice Cream Festival features ice creams from all over the region. With every flavour and flair imaginable as well as live entertainment, family fun, treats and of course, plenty of ice cream for all (of course including dairy free and vegan).

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Calendar
August 6th 2022

Garstang Show

Garstang Show always has and always will be about community. What may seem to many as just another event is, in reality, a way to bring the local community together to learn about, enjoy and celebrate the role farming, food and the countryside plays in all our lives.

Watch the action in the Main Ring, shop delicious local produce in the Food Hall and see beautiful floral displays and handmade crafts in the Horticulture Marquee. Immerse yourself in agriculture with a packed timetable of livestock classes and trade stands showcasing the best of our local businesses.

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Calendar
August 13th & 14th 2022

Blackpool Air Show

The free event, which attracts up to 100,000 visitors, has been cancelled for the past two years because of COVID restrictions on mass gatherings.

But Visit Blackpool has announced that the show will return for 2022 with some of the world’s finest military and civilian aircraft performing over the iconic seafront.

To complement the aerial programme, there will be plenty to see and do on the ground with a wide range of stalls, attractions and food concessions in the Air Show Village on the Tower Festival Headland.

Further details of the air show programme will be released in the early part of next year.

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Calendar
August 26th to 29th 2022

FYA Festival 2022

Join us on the farm August Bank Holiday weekend 2022 for our second music festival! If you know us well you know everytime we do something we wanna go bigger & better and the planning has already started! With over 55 live acts across 3 days there’ll be something for everyone to enjoy. Street food vendors and local producers will line the fields with stalls for you to peruse. Artists & performers will be arting & performing from one corner to the other to entertain and enthral you.

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Calendar
September 29th 2022

Jason Manford Like Me Tour

He's back! It's been a busy few years for Jason since his last smash-hit stand up show but fans of his Absolute Radio show will know this nationally acclaimed comedian hasn't changed a bit. 'Like Me' is Jason's latest comic offering set to hit the road, and is sure to be 'expert observational comedy' (The Guardian) mixed with 'comic gold' (Mail on Sunday).

Jason said: "After the fun we had on my last tour 'Muddle Class', I'm excited to get back on the road with my new stand up show, 'Like Me'. In these trying times it's always important to be able to get away for a couple of hours and exercise the old chuckle muscle! So I'm coming to a venue near you in 2021 so we can have a good laugh together. See you then."

'First & Last' (BBC One), 'The Masked Singer' (ITV1), 'What Would Your Kid Do?' (ITV1), 'Olivier Awards' (ITV1), 'Scarborough' (BBC One), '8 out of 10 Cats' (Channel 4), 'The Nightly Show' (ITV1), 'Sunday Night at the Palladium' (ITV1), 'Live at the Apollo' (BBC One), 'Have I Got News For You', (BBC One), QI (BBC Two) and 'The Royal Variety Performance' (ITV1) have all helped establish Jason as a nationally known comic.

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Calendar
September 2rd 2022 to 2nd January 2023

Blackpool Illuminations 2022

In 2022, the Lights will be shining from 2 September 2022- 2 January 2023.

Have you seen them? The sort of spectacle that everyone should see at least once, Blackpool Illuminations enthrall millions of visitors every year. The greatest free light show on earth has been a major part of Blackpool’s attraction since 1879 when they were described as ‘Artificial Sunshine’

Blackpool Illumination 2022 is a little different this year. The annual Illuminations display is to be extended by two months to provide an invaluable boost to the resort’s tourism season after COVID-19.

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Calendar
October 19th 2022

Will Young

Will Young has spent the last two decades at the forefront of pop after bursting onto the scene in 2002 as the original winner of Pop Idol. His expansive career has culminated in four #1 and two #2 chart topping albums, two BRIT Awards, four UK number one singles and hits including 'Leave Right Now', 'Evergreen' and 'Jealousy'.

An acting career blossomed concurrently, with roles on stage and screen and presenting gigs on TV and radio, including regular cover for Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2. Will's most recent album Crying On The Bathroom Floor hit #3 in the UK album chart this year and his new book To Be A Gay Man is available now via Penguin Books.

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Calendar
December 2nd 2022 to January 1st 2023

Sleeping Beauty Pantomime

Martin Dodd for UK Productions in association with Blackpool Grand Theatre presents Sleeping Beauty the Pantomime.

Wakey wakey….don't miss the spellbinding tale of Sleeping Beauty.

A beautiful Princess pricks her finger on a spindle wheel which has been cursed by the evil Carabosse at her 18th Birthday party. Can the Good Fairy's magical spell break the curse?

The Princess can only be awoken by true love's kiss. Will she find her true love and live happily ever after?

Grand Panto favourite Steve Royle (Britain's Got Talent, Comic, Presenter) returns as Silly Billy, and further star casting will be announced soon.

A laugh-a-minute extravaganza with stunning sets, musical hits, fabulous costumes and exciting special effects to keep audiences both young and old entertained!

Don't be caught napping and join us for the greatest magical pantomime ever told.

The Blackpool Grand Theatre 2022/23 pantomime, Sleeping Beauty is presented by Martin Dodd for UK Productions Ltd who have been presenting the Christmas pantomime at Blackpool's Grand Theatre since 1996. Other productions presented at The Grand by UK Productions include Legally Blonde the Musical, Disney's Beauty and the Beast The Musical, The Kite Runner, 42nd Street, South Pacific, Carousel, Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma!, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Anything Goes.

The Blackpool Grand Theatre pantomime will burst with great songs, stunning dance routines and plenty of laughter, this is a truly magical treat for all the family you won't want to miss! Blackpool audiences are guaranteed a year of spectacular sets, dazzling costumes and side-splitting comedy, produced by Martin Dodd for UK Productions in association with Blackpool Grand Theatre.

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