Blackpool

Ribby Hall Village the popular Lancashire holiday village will this month be starring as the sponsors of ITVs Granada weather. The five-star holiday village set in more than 100 acres of rural Lancashire offers holiday makers affordable luxury in the form of modern self-catering cottages, stunning rustic pine lodges (with outdoor hot tub) and two unique stand alone properties – The White House and The Coach House.

The five different sponsorship trailers show Ribby Hall Village in different seasons of the year; showing that it really is a great place for holidays 365 days a year, whatever the weather. The sponsorship bumpers will appear throughout the day, every day until 28th February and show various activities that are available during a stay at Ribby Hall Village including boating, golf, fishing, horse riding and two indoor swimming pools.

After an un-predictable year for travel in 2010 due to airline strikes, volcanic ash, weather disruptions and a number of tour operators going into liquidation there has never been a better or safer time to holiday in the UK. As for the UK weather, it never stops play at Ribby Hall Village with so many fantastic things to do, and to celebrate this, throughout January customers can save up to £50 off their 2011 break, which works out at holidays from just £11 per person per night, simply visit www.ribbyhall.co.uk or call 0800 085 17 17.

After approximately ten years of TV advertising in the New Year period, Marketing Manager Charlotte Gili-Ross decided that it was the right time to launch the sponsorship of the Granada regional weather, “Booking a holiday at Ribby Hall Village has never been so easy with our NEW-look website. This month guests can save up to £50 off their 2011 short break or holiday at Ribby Hall Village and we’re also giving readers the opportunity to win a holiday. Entries can be made by visiting www.facebook.com/ribbyhallvillage. Also, don’t forget to look out for us on ITV1 seven days a week sponsoring the Granada regional weather – we’re showcasing our five-star holiday destination that’s open 365 days a year.” The trailers are also available to view online at www.ribbyhall.co.uk.

The World Fireworks Championships 2010 will be held in Blackpool this weekend.

Fireworks experts from Taiwan, France and Canada will launch a series of spectacular pyrotechnical displays from the beach between the Central and South Piers.

The build-up to each show will begin around 7.30 pm with fireworks from 8.30 pm.

Friday, September 10 – San Tai, Taiwan
Saturday, September 11 – Feerie, France
Sunday, September 12 – DW Fireworks, Canada

Thursday 9 – Sunday 12 September
www.heritageopendays.org.uk – fully events listing and details

Later this week properties across England will throw open their doors for free as part of the country’s annual celebration of local architecture, history and culture.

Supported nationally by English Heritage and run locally by an army of volunteers and community champions, Heritage Open Days takes place on people doorstops and is the country’s leading grassroots cultural event.

One million people are expected to take advantage of the four day event, exploring more than 4,000 properties of every style, period and function, many of which are normally closed to the public or usually charge an admission fee.

Participating properties in North West England include:

Barrow – Dalton Castle (Dalton-in-Furness)
Birkenhead – Birkenhead Park, Birkenhead Priory, Lady Lever Art Gallery
Blackpool – Blackpool Tower, Winter Gardens
Bolton – Bolton Steam Museum
Burnley – Gawthorpe Hall (Padiham), Queen Street Mill Textile Museum
Bury – Fusilier Museum, East Lancashire Railway, Peel Tower
Carlisle – High Head Sculpture Valley
Chester – Chester Racecourse, Grosvenor Museum, Little Moreton Hall (Congleton)
Kendal – Abbott Hall Art Gallery, Museum of Lakeland Life, Sizergh Castle
Lake District – Beatix Potter Gallery (Hawkshead), Blackwell (Windermere),
Liverpool – St George’s Hall, Cunard Building, Liver Building,
Macclesfield – Quarry Bank Mill
Manchester – Victoria Baths
Morecambe – Morecambe Town Hall
Oldham – Saddleworth Museum
Penrith – Acorn Bank
Preston – Samlesbury Hall
Rochdale – Healey Dell, Rochdale Pioneers Museum, Touchstones,
St Helens – World of Glass
Stockport – Hat Works, Staircase House, Air Raid Shelters, Bramall Hall
Warrington – Norton Priory (Runcorn)
Wigan – Museum of Wigan Life, Trencherfield Mill Engine

Blackpool Illuminations – Dates – Friday 3 September to Sunday 7 November 2010.

visitBlackpool, Real Radio and Smooth Radio, today unveiled superstar Robbie Williams as the celebrity who will turn on the 2010 Blackpool Illuminations.

Robbie will drop into the resort on Friday 3 September to flick the switch as part of a star-studded celebrity weekend to launch this year’s world-famous Blackpool Illuminations.

Williams, who releases his new single “Shame” on October 4, is no stranger to the town, having filmed the video for his hit single “Advertising Space” there; the music legend also brought his girlfriend Ayda Field and friends and family to the Pleasure Beach at the end of 2008, declaring the day one of the top 10 days of his life.

Robbie said this week; “Blackpool has so many happy memories for me and it will be a real thrill to turn on the 2010 Illuminations which I am told are seen by 3 million people every year. This will cap my twentieth year of making music and I can’t think of a better place to celebrate that than Blackpool”.

In what promises to be the biggest Switch-On ever, visitBlackpool, Real Radio and Smooth Radio have organized a variety of special events for the weekend of September 3,4 and 5 – further details of which will be announced shortly.

Councillor Maxine Callow, Cabinet Member for Tourism and Regeneration at Blackpool Council, said: “I always find it difficult to see each year how we can top the celebrities who come to flick the switch but this year Real Radio and Smooth Radio have managed it and we are absolutely thrilled that Robbie Williams will be joining us.

“The Illuminations Switch On is the biggest event of the year and we’ve got one of the biggest stars in the country. No doubt this will be welcome news to Blackpool businesses who are set to benefit from the thousands of visitors who will be in the resort to enjoy this fantastic event. It’s set to be a spectacular show with something for everyone.

“Robbie has a huge fan base of all ages and we want them to come to Blackpool and enjoy everything the resort has to offer.”

This will be one of Robbie’s last solo appearances before he joins Take That on tour, and although he won’t be singing on the evening, he’s looking forward to returning to Blackpool to flick the famous switch.

The entertainment packed event will take place in the Switch-On Arena, situated behind the SEA LIFE Centre with a live broadcast going out nationwide across the Real Radio network from 8pm with a 9pm switch-on.

This year fans will need to ensure they have a ticket for the fabulous FREE show – stay tuned to Real Radio and Smooth Radio for admission details, or keep an eye on www.visitblackpool.com/switchon and www.realradio.co.uk

Dave Shearer, Real Radio programme director and event organiser said; “We are delighted to be able to present a star of Robbie’s magnitude for Blackpool Illuminations. In previous years Radio 2 has had some great acts but this year’s event puts them all in the shade. We have put together an unsurpassable evening’s entertainment which listeners who attend will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Andy Carter GMG Radio North West’s managing director added: “We are very proud to be able to bring Robbie to Blackpool for The Big Switch On along with a full evening of music from the cream of pop. This is an iconic town and an iconic event, so it is only fitting that we present iconic stars.”

As well as the station’s programming, Blackpool has organised a variety of special events for the weekend, making it what promises to be the biggest Switch-On ever, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the resort.

St John’s in the town centre will be alive with activity over the Big Switch-On Weekend. Situated in the centre of the resort, close to the Winter Gardens, the area will become a vibrant outdoor space with a programme of activity planned for the Saturday.

Robbie Williams won the “Outstanding Contribution” award at this year’s Brit Awards and will release his greatest hits collection “In And Out Of Consciousness – 1990-2010” on Virgin Records on October 11.

He has just been confirmed to headline the very special Help for Heroes concert at Twickenham on Sep 12, his only live performance for the rest of this year.

Robbie’s new single “Shame” is a duet with Gary Barlow and details of Take That’s new album, featuring Robbie, will be released soon.

The Illuminations shine for 66 nights until Sunday 7 November.

Several attractions and places in North West England could soon be UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A list of 38 entries is currently being scrutinised by the government and around 10 will be submitted to UNESCO next year.

North West entries bidding for status are Chester Rows, Blackpool, Jodrell Bank, and the Lake District.

Councillor Richard Short, Executive Member for Culture and Recreation at Chester West and Chester Council, said: “I am delighted that the Rows have been included – they are synonymous with Chester and known throughout the world.

“Whilst we firmly believe that Chester itself should be declared a World Heritage Site, we were advised that the Rows on their own would stand a better chance of receiving this international recognition.”

Added Councillor Short: “I believe that the Rows are unique – they are certainly amongst the most photographed aspect of Chester – and must rank among Britain’s best-known shopping malls.”

JD Wetherspoon has opened a new £1 million pub in Blackpool town centre.

The Albert and The Lion is situated on Bank Hey Street, just north of Blackpool Tower and the Houndshill Shopping Centre. The building was formerly a Pricebusters store.

The British pub chain is known for its low prices, long opening hours, no music policy, and real ale. JD Wetherspoon has also recently introduced free high speed wireless internet access in its pubs.

The 2010/11 Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism Awards took place yesterday at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel, near Accrington. The event was hosted by TV wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan.

The winners and highly commended were announced as follows:

Bed and Breakfast/Guest Accommodation of the Year – Sponsored by VisitBlackpool
Winner: Number One, South Beach, Blackpool
Highly Commended: Langtry’s Blackpool

Access for All Tourism Award – Sponsored by Tourism For All
Winner: Mytton Fold Hotel and Golf Complex, Langho

Sustainable Tourism Award – Sponsored by Business Link
Winner: Clough Bottom Farm Cottages, Bashall Eaves
Highly Commended: Caldertop Cottage, Garstang

Small Hotel of the Year – Sponsored by Lancashire County Council
Winner: The Midland Hotel, Morecambe
Highly Commended: The Gibbon Bridge Hotel, Chipping

Large Hotel of the Year – Sponsored by Welcome to Excellence
Winner: Best Western Premier Leyland Hotel

Best Tourism Event of the Year – Sponsored by Fat Media
Top Three voted by public vote
Winner – 1940s Wartime Weekend, East Lancashire Railway
2ndPlace – World Fireworks Championships, Blackpool
3rd Place – Festival Bowland

Online Marketing Award – Sponsored by New Mind
Winner: Pleasure Beach Resort, Blackpool
Highly Commended: The Grand Theatre, Blackpool

Taste Lancashire Award – Sponsored by Made in Lancashire and Food North West
Winner: The Highwayman, Burrow
Highly Commended: Greens Bistro, Lytham St Annes

Best Tourism Experience of the Year – Sponsored by Blackpool International Airport
Winner: Go Ape! Rivington
Highly Commended: Martin Mere Swan Spectacular, Nr Ormskirk

Caravan Holiday Park and Holiday Village of the Year – Sponsored by KPMG
Winner: Newton Hall Holiday Centre, Blackpool

Business Tourism Award of the Year – Sponsored by Virgin Trains
Winner: Stanley House, Mellor
Highly Commended: The Midland Hotel, Morecambe

Self Catering Award – The Northwest Regional Development Agency
Winner: The Old Shippon at Mellor
Highly Commended: Martin Lane Farmhouse Holiday Cottages, Burscough

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year – Sponsored by Workhouse Marketing
Winner: Clitheroe Castle and Museum

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year – Sponsored by University of Central Lancashire
Winner: Blackpool Zoo
Highly Commended: Pleasure Beach Resort, Blackpool

Blackpool Illuminations has scooped a national award at last night’s Enjoy England Awards for Excellence, walking away with the Gold Award for Best Tourism Event of the Year.

The prestigious Awards took place in Brighton and celebrate the best of English tourism, promoting healthy industry competition and high standards, helping to ensure England’s place as a world-class destination.

Blackpool Illuminations received Gold ahead of Salisbury International Arts Festival and the Brighton Festival, who were nominated in the same category.

Blackpool Illuminations has been a tradition since 1879 and is now firmly established as an integral part of the region’s fabric. This popular annual event, which takes place from early September to early November, is a family-friendly event which brings over three million visitors from around the UK to witness this £2.4 million event.

Blackpool Illuminations is credited with pumping over £275 million into the local economy, as well as extending the traditional tourist season by a further nine weeks, which the judges noted, is a very impressive achievement.

Blackpool Illuminations Manager, Richard Ryan said, “This award is such wonderful news.

”We try to make every year very special and last year was one of the best and it’s great to see our efforts being given this prestigious award.

“We have won awards in the past, but they don’t come much bigger than this. It’s brilliant for Blackpool and for all the staff who work so hard to get it right each year.”

The 46 gold and silver winners were selected from over 100 regional winners submitted by the nine regions of England and were rigorously assessed by independent assessors and a team of judges to make it through to the national final. The finalists were selected by a panel of tourism industry judges which included previous Gold winners, travel journalists and industry experts.

Natalie Wyatt, Head of visitBlackpool added, “visitBlackpool is delighted that the Illuminations have won this accolade.

“2009 was a fantastic year for the resort and saw the completion of the new Illuminations feature Brilliance which is a fantastic sound and light show in the heart of the town centre.

“Brilliance is just another innovative way of bringing the Illuminations into the town centre and linking in with events, adding something different to this electrifying show. It enables us and other event organisers, to programme events not just during the Illuminations period but all year round.

“The award is well-deserved and the team will be delighted that their hard work has been recognised in this way.”

Blackpool Illuminations shine non-stop for 66 nights from Friday 3 September to Sunday 7 November 2010. The event kicks off with a celebrity switch on ceremony on Friday 3 September and this year’s switch on artist will follow in the footsteps of Alan Carr, Top Gear, Dr Who to name a few, supported by some of the country’s top music artists.

Blackpool Council has signed up global visitor attractions operator Merlin Entertainments (Merlin) to manage the operations and redevelopment of the Blackpool Tower complex and Louis Tussauds Waxworks when it formally takes over the businesses later this year.

In an ambitious move, the Council has completed the purchase of the Blackpool Tower, Winter Gardens, the Golden Mile Centre and Louis Tussauds buildings.

The purchases have been made possible following successful bids for European and Government funding and £10m from the Council’s own budget announced today.

As part of the deal the Winter Gardens will be operated alongside Blackpool’s three landmark Piers by Crown Leisure.

Announcing details of the package, Council Leader Peter Callow said: “This is a fantastic deal for Blackpool securing long-term investment in the resort and is the culmination of months of negotiations.

He said: “The Council is ambitious for Blackpool and Merlin is absolutely the right choice. Merlin is a global company, and the biggest entertainment name in the UK and Europe, and they will be bringing some of the most iconic attractions in the world to Blackpool.”

Merlin’s existing UK portfolio includes the Alton Towers Resort, Thorpe Park, Warwick Castle, the Dungeons, Madame Tussauds, LEGOLAND, and the London Eye. The company also operates the world’s largest aquarium brand – SEA LIFE, including the successful attraction on Blackpool Promenade.

The plans form part of the Council’s ambitions to create an exciting, world class leisure destination for the future and Merlin’s expertise and brands are seen as key to achieving this. As part of the deal Merlin will not only bring a thrilling new Dungeon attraction to the Blackpool Tower; but also use its experience in operating the world famous London Eye to develop the current observation platform at the top of the Tower into an exciting new ‘ Eye’ branded experience, including a 4D cinema preview show.

Additionally, the current Louis Tussauds wax attraction will be transformed into a second UK Madame Tussauds, with all the interactivity and high quality figures associated with this unique brand.

A listed building, the current restoration programme for Blackpool Tower itself will continue; and the famous Ballroom and Circus will be retained and are expected to be in great demand in the future to host a programme of exciting new events.

These investment plans could bring an extra 800,000 visitors every year generating up to £55m more spend right across the resort.

Improvements to the conference facilities at the Winter Gardens are also planned which aim to achieve a mid-tier conferencing facility designed to draw additional business tourism trips and events to the town – pulling in an estimated 250,000 visitors.

The Council Leader added: “Merlin is just the kind of world class operator we need with the track record of running quality attractions that people visit time and again.I am grateful for Leisure Parcs for its assistance during the process and that its sister company Crown Entertainments will be continuing a presence in the town through it operation of the Winter Gardens on the Council’s behalf.”

Merlin Entertainments’ Chief Executive of Merlin Nick Varney said: “This is a very innovative and ground breaking initiative by Blackpool Council, and a measure of just how seriously they take the future regeneration of the town. We are delighted to be playing a key role. From 2011 no other UK centre other than London will be able to offer visitors such a unique and broad selection of international attraction brands. In our view this will help take what is already one of the best loved and iconic seaside destinations in Europe into the premier league.

“We already have a long term association with the town through SEA LIFE, and the Tower complex provides a very exciting and unique location for several of our internationally known attraction brands. Given our experience to date, and the Council’s exciting regeneration plans, we believe that this partnership will offer significant commercial advantages for both Merlin and Blackpool; but most importantly real benefits for future visitors to the town.’

Sir Howard Bernstein, Chair of ReBlackpool, said: “This is a bold but necessary initiative which provides the best possible platform for strengthening the destination role of the town. I am confident that this will result in a significant increase in jobs and visitor numbers and will weld together all the other valuable projects and programmes which are designed to make Blackpool an attractive place to live, visit and invest. ”

Craig Hemmings, Director of Leisure Parcs said: “We are extremely proud of our long association with Blackpool Tower, Winter Gardens, Louis Tussauds and The Golden Mile Centre but we recognise that these popular assets are part of Blackpool’s heritage. We have worked hard with Blackpool Council to find a deal that would allow these iconic attractions to be owned by the Town, and to be enjoyed by future generations.”

Hoteliers and businesses in Blackpool have hailed the deal saying it will put Blackpool well and truly back in the tourism spotlight for families from all over Britain.

Councillor Maxine Callow, Cabinet Member for Tourism and Regeneration said: “This is an amazing opportunity for Blackpool to really reap the benefits from having such major brands operating in our area.

“The deal will see Merlin market the Blackpool attractions across the UK and in Europe helping to raise our profile as tourist resort.”

A multi-million pound scheme to regenerate an area of Blackpool town centre has been approved by Blackpool Council.

Plans for the £220 million Talbot Gateway scheme were submitted by Muse Developments last November and include shops, council and business offices, restaurants, hotels, and a supermarket.

The development will be located close to Blackpool North train station and will cover an area of more than 300,000 square feet.

Construction work on the first phase is expected to commence in 2011.