Blackpool's development was closely tied to the Lancashire cotton-mill practice of annual factory maintenance shutdowns, known as wakes weeks, when many workers chose to visit the seaside.

[5][6] By the early 19th century, small purpose-built facilities began catering for a middle-class market, although substantial numbers of working people from manufacturing towns were "being drawn to Blackpool's charms".

[12] The First World War called a temporary halt to the display in 1914 but by 1925 the lights were back with giant animated tableaux being added and extending the Blackpool Illuminations to almost six miles from Squires Gate to Red Bank Road.

[citation needed] Many seaside resorts fell from grace during the latter half of the 20th century as mobility, wealth, visitor aspirations and competition were in a state of flux, but Blackpool managed to retain its popular/working-class appeal as the "Las Vegas of the North".

[36] Further afield, portions are dispersed around the wider Blackpool urban area into the surrounding Lancashire districts of Fylde and Wyre, helping to keep the settlements of Lytham St Annes, Poulton-le-Fylde, Warton/Freckleton and Kirkham separated.

Sports car manufacturer TVR was based in Blackpool until 2006, and national jewellery chain Beaverbrooks, founded in 1919, relocated its head office to St Annes in 1946.

[58] During the second half of the 20th century and up to 2007, Blackpool was one of the country's leading locations for political conferences, with the three main parties as well as bodies such as the TUC holding events at the Winter Gardens.

With the Winter Gardens in need of refurbishment at the time and parties preferring inland city locations to coastal resorts, Blackpool held no major political conferences between 2008 and 2021.

[70] The restoration of the Tower's stained glass windows was carried out by local specialist Aaron Whiteside, who was given a Blackpool Council conservation award for the work.

[77] The first phase of Talbot Gateway was completed in 2014 with the opening of the Number One Bickerstaffe Square council office, a supermarket and a refurbished multi-storey car park, and public spaces.

[81] Construction started in February 2023 on new government offices as part of phase three of Talbot Gateway, and 3,000 Department for Work and Pensions staff are due to be relocated to the town after an expected completion date of March 2025.

[84] The future of the 1937 building on Palatine Road – designed by civic architect JC Robinson for Blackpool Technical College and School of Art – is unknown.

In November 2022, Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove said his department would award £40 million of funding to enable that relocation and "revitalise this great town by delivering much-needed homes, more jobs and new opportunities for local people".

It is an illuminated text-based artwork by Tom Ireland that is based on a quote by a local businessman to architect Thomas H Mawson in the 1920s to explain the town's importance to working-class people.

[144] In 2022 the gallery hosted an art auction of 250 original paintings, photos and sculptures donated by local artists raising £8,000+to help victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Over 20 participants created craftivist works highlighting the precarious safety of women and using methods including cross stitch, crochet, appliqué and embroidery under the banner We're Sew Done.

[184] Supported by the Friends of the Grand Theatre, it is a registered charity and in 2022 received Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation status – a three-year investment of more than £1.5m.

[199] Skool of Street is House of Wingz' charitable arm, providing free access to classes for children who do not have the means to pay as well as delivering the Government's Holiday Activities and Food programme.

The first registered venue offering musical entertainment in Blackpool was the original Uncle Tom's Cabin, situated on the cliffs at North Shore, from the early 1860s.

[211] All the top British beat groups played in Blackpool, forging a tradition at the Winter Gardens Empress Ballroom of staging of rock, alternative and indie music with visiting bands through the decades including Queen, the Stone Roses, Blur and New Order.

[211] John Lennon spent a short time living in Blackpool as a child and would often visit family there and watch musical acts including George Formby and Dickie Valentine.

[222] Blackpool-born singer Rae Morris’s 2022 album Rachel@Fairyland pays homage to her hometown with songs referencing Blackpool Tower, childhood memories, the town's LGBTQ+ community and its deprivation.

[222] While depictions of Blackpool in popular music represent a wide range of attitudes to the town, their connection to the English working-class is inevitably a persistent seam running through them.

Locarno Mecca opened on Central Drive in April 1965 attracting acts including Slade (1972), Bob Marley and the Wailers (22 November 1973) and Martha and the Vandellas (25 February 1977).

[211] The venue went on to become home to one of four legendary northern soul nights in the Highland Room, established in 1970 by local DJ, Tony Jebb along with Les Cokell, followed by Ian Levine and Colin Curtis.

[228] Blackpool was not initially at the forefront of the punk revolution, with its youth culture still preoccupied by northern soul throughout the ‘70s, and became more well known for its homegrown post-punk groups, The Membranes, The Fits, Section 25 and the Ceramic Hobbs.

[235] In Good Company is a grassroots music collective in Blackpool that seeks out and nurtures musicians from across the Fylde Coast and provides them with regular gigs across the town's venues.

[250] In 2022, We're Still Here – an oral histories project supported by Heritage Lottery Fund was established by queer-led arts organisation Abingdon Studios and artists Garth Gratrix and Harry Clayton-Wright.

Events at these venues have been screened on Sky Sports, British Eurosport and Channel M. Blackpool is home to many current and former professional boxers, including Brian Rose, Jack Arnfield, Jeff Thomas, Mathew Ellis, Matty Askin and Scott Cardle.

Blackpool is currently home to the annual 'Summer Bash' rugby league tournament held at Bloomfield Road, where an entire round of Championship matches are played in the town to showcase the sport.