<Tr> <Th> Location (s) </Th> <Td> Blackpool, England </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 1879 - present </Td> </Tr> <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> <P> In 2013 the Illuminations were meant to shine from 30 August to 3 November . However, on 14 March 2013 it was announced that they had been extended by a week, shining until 10 November making it the first time ever the Illuminations will shine for 73 days. This continued in 2014 when the Illuminations shone from 29 August to 9 November . The Illuminations have returned to shining for the regular 66 days since 2015 . </P>

When were the blackpool illuminations first switched on