<P> Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival , founded in 1879 and first switched on 19 September that year , held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire . Also known locally as The Lights or The Illuminations , they run each year for sixty - six days , from late August until early November at a time when most other English seaside resorts ' seasons are coming to an end . Dubbed as `` the greatest free light show on earth '' , they are 6 miles ( 10 km ) long and use over one million bulbs . The display stretches along the Promenade from Starr Gate at the south end of the town to Bispham in the north . </P>
when were the blackpool illuminations first switched on
founded in 1879 and first switched on 19 September