The seaside resort of Blackpool has unveiled news to thrill visitors missing their end of summer lightshow spectacular - after changing plans for 2025 to attract autumn half-term families. For 10 years the annual Lightpool Festival's amazed visitors with free, light-based art installations, live shows and family-friendly 3D projections forming an illuminated trail through the Lancashire town.

Now it will run for two weeks instead of one - until the 1st of November - after a flurry of complaints from families that previous years' dates never allowed them time to visit. Visit Blackpool revealed: "We know not all schools break up for half-term at the same time and many of you told us how disappointed you were to miss out on this year's Lightpool Festival because of the original date - so, we've made a change!"

Recently we told how Blackpool has transformed its fortunes with soaring visitor numbers - and a massive £90 million regeneration boost.

In March Blackpool Council unveiled the first phase of the welcome £90m Government funding plan to demolish about 400 properties no longer fit for purpose and replace them with up to 280 bigger new homes.

Weeks later, new visitor numbers for the resort revealed a soaring rise in tourists, with data for 2023 showing it attracted 21.5m tourists - a 6% increase compared to 2022's figure of 20.3m.

It comes after the town's famous Pleasure Beach Resort hit back at disappointment at the closure of five of their rides - after £2.7m pre-tax losses in their latest annual report - by stressing they were investing in new "bigger and better" rides.

Concerns were also expressed that entry fees were reducing footfall into the iconic tourist attraction. However, the Pleasure Beach, which opened in 1896 and now provides jobs for almost 1,000 local people, said the closures have allowed them to actually massively reinvest in the site.

A new Gyro Swing pendulum £8.7m ride will open in 2026 that swings 120 degrees and reaches 138 feet at its highest point. It will be able to seat 40 riders, facing outwards so they feel "as though they are being swung over the sea".

Now the Lightpool Festival will run from 15 October to 1 November this year - staged across a range of indoor and outdoor venues and coinciding with the Blackpool Illuminations.

Last year's Lightpool boasted 22 artworks and projection shows, including installations from France, Finland and Spain.

The resort's main thoroughfare - the Golden Mile - featured 21 neon lighting features designed by TV's Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, a trio of huge jellyfish on the promenade, and an illuminated Carnival inside the Tower Ballroom.

Supported by Arts Council England, the art trail will be illuminated every evening from 18:00 to 22:00.