The display stretches along the Promenade from Starr Gate at the south end of the town to Bispham in the north.

The Illuminations were first shown in 1879 when they were described as 'Artificial sunshine', and consisted of just eight carbon arc lamps which bathed the Promenade.

[5] The original event preceded Thomas Edison's patent of the electric light bulb by twelve months.

[10] Each year one main celebrity pulls the switch while there are performances in the Radio 2 arena with a pre-switch on concert featuring pop bands, singers and comedians.

[4] For the 2007 Illuminations, Interior designer and television personality Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen best known for his appearances on the BBC television programme, Changing Rooms was commissioned to create special feature on Central Promenade outside Blackpool Tower, named Decodance.

[11] Llewelyn-Bowen had stated that he fell in love with what he called "Blackpool's high-kicking glamour and historical reputation for giddy glitz" while filming for the Holiday programme.

[12] The displays at the cliffs from North Shore to Bispham contain forty large tableaux holding more than 5,000 square metres in surface area.

There is a pedestrian walkway running the length of the tableaux displays which are set back from the Promenade beyond the tramway.

[13] In October 2007, a laser beam installed on the tower for the duration of the annual Illuminations was criticised by astronomer and presenter of The Sky at Night television programme, Patrick Moore who said, "Light pollution is a huge problem.

The Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston said the laser has added to a "spiralling problem" affecting astronomy, as astronomical research is increasing carried out at sites outside Europe due to light pollution.

[14] At the sixth annual Banquet and Ball on 9 January 2008, organised by the holiday trade umbrella group, Blackpool Combined Association, to raise funds for the Lights,[15] the new Head of Illuminations, Michael Wilcock revealed new plans for the future of the Illuminations.

[19] A campaign by the local newspaper, the Blackpool Gazette in 2006 to get one of the Illuminated trams, Western Train, back on track,[20] resulted in a £278,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant to restore the tramcar which first ran in 1962.

[7] The Illuminations now only use green electricity from renewable resources, comprising wind power, small-scale hydropower and biogas.