BLACKPOOL LIVE LAUNCHES AS A NEW HOME FOR LIVE MUSIC BY THE SEA
Blackpool Live brings together an exceptional programme of live music at the iconic Winter Gardens, pairing some of the UK’s most celebrated guitar bands with one of Britain’s best-known seaside destinations. Following in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix, The Stone Roses and many more iconic bands, the highest calibre of artists will return to this legendary venue.
Announced today, Feeder, The Fratellis, The Enemy, Cast, Doves, The Pigeon Detectives and Happy Mondays will headline a bill that also features The Futureheads, The Twang, The Lilacs, The Cheap Thrills, We Are Scientists, Alex Spencer, Shambolics, Sleeper, Echobelly, Pastel, The Slow Readers Club, IST IST, Bank Holiday, The Rifles, M60, ALRIGHT, Inspiral Carpets and Common Goldfish. It’s a programme designed to appeal to lifelong music fans while championing the next wave of emerging artists.
Launching in the summer of 2026, Blackpool Live brings together an incredible programme of live music at the legendary Winter Gardens while celebrating everything that makes Blackpool one of Britain’s great destinations. This brand-new series invites fans to make more of a night at the gig, spending time exploring the town’s beaches, attractions, bars and restaurants before heading to the show, creating a live music experience that’s about the whole day, not just the encore.
Spend the afternoon at Pleasure Beach. Wander the piers. Visit Coral Island or Madame Tussauds. Discover independent bars and restaurants. Walk the beach. Then finish the day with some of the biggest names in British guitar music. Across seven dates, Blackpool Live brings together an exceptional collection of artists spanning multiple generations of indie and alternative music.
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Celebrated illustrator Rod Hunt has created an exclusive Blackpool Live map celebrating the town through the eyes of a music fan, placing the Winter Gardens alongside Blackpool’s iconic attractions and reinforcing the idea that the show is just one part of the experience.. The Winter Gardens sits alongside Pleasure Beach, the Tower, the piers, Coral Island, Madame Tussauds and the beach itself, reinforcing a simple idea: the show is only part of the experience.
The concept was inspired by a real day out. In 2006, Blackpool Live founder Mark Lippmann travelled with fifteen friends from Hazel Grove to watch Arctic Monkeys at the Empress Ballroom. They arrived before lunch, spent the afternoon on the rides at Pleasure Beach, wandered the seafront eating ice creams, played in the arcades, grabbed fish and chips and beers before joining thousands of fans inside one of Britain’s most iconic venues. Then they caught the last train home.
Twenty years later, it’s still one of the greatest days they can remember. Blackpool Live was created with one ambition: to give a new generation memories like that.
Mark Lippmann “People always ask what the best gig you’ve ever been to was, but when you think about it, you remember so much more than the band. You remember who you were with, what you did before the show and how the whole day felt. Blackpool is uniquely placed to create those experiences. You can jump on a train, spend the day by the sea and finish it watching incredible live music in one of Britain’s most iconic venues. That’s what Blackpool Live is really about.”
