Blackpool Illuminations Switch On - Full line up announced

Pop icon Mel B is to switch on this year’s Blackpool Illuminations.

The Spice Girls singer will make a nostalgic return to the resort where her career first started as a 16-year-old dancer in the Mystique show at Pleasure Beach Resort.

Mel rose to global fame in the 90s as a member of the Spice Girls in which she was nicknamed Scary Spice. With more than 100 million records sold worldwide, they became the best-selling female group of all time.

She has since gone on to work as a solo singer-songwriter, TV personality and actress, working on numerous shows in the UK, Australia and the United States.

Last month, she received an honorary doctorate from Leeds Beckett University, which recognised the star for her work with domestic abuse victims and her global influence as “a music icon”. Mel – who is patron of Women’s Aid - was also made an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours list for her charitable work.

The Switch-On ceremony, which is a free to access event, will take place on the Tower Festival Headland on the night of Friday 30 August, providing a spectacular finale to a two-hour concert headlined by Ella Henderson and featuring former member of The Pussycat Dolls, Kimberly Wyatt, and Massaoke performed by Rockstar Weekend.

Mel, who joins a Switch-On roll of honour that includes national and international celebrities down the years, said: ““I’m so thrilled to be turning on the Illuminations because Blackpool has played a big part in my life and career.

“I was just 16 when I came to Blackpool to be part of the Mystique dance group. To me it was the most glamorous place in the world - the Vegas of Britain.

“I had so much to learn, so fast and it stood me in good stead for everything that came later. I love the people, the place and of course the fish and chips - with plenty of scraps.

“So to have the opportunity in 2024 to come back and turn on the Illuminations means so much to me. I’m really excited to get the party started!”

Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “We are thrilled to announce Mel B as the 2024 Switch-On star.

“Not only is she a member of one of the best-known girl groups on the planet, her work with vulnerable women and victims of domestic abuse is exemplary.

“It will be a pleasure to welcome her back to the resort where she started out on what was to become a stellar career.”

Mel will pull the famous switch to trigger four months of Illuminations at the end of a show that is being delivered in association with Hits Radio.

The Switch-On celebrations will start with some of Blackpool’s brightest young musicians taking to the stage in the run-up to the main event with a non-stop series of performances.

The Upbeat Rock Academy, which organises rock music tuition for more than 300 students from across the Fylde Coast, will present Blackpool Introduces, a 90-minute-long showcase of local talent.

The young people will be joined by Blackpool-based House of Wingz, an award-winning hip hop dance crew that has already been featured on prime time national television.

It will open with the Massaoke show performed by Rockstar Weekend, a unique mass participation touring production featuring lyrics from some of the greatest crowd-pleasing hits of all time projected on the giant LED screens. It’s the show where you, the general public, become the stars, with the aim of creating the biggest family singalong that Blackpool has ever seen!

They will be followed on stage by American-born Kimberly Wyatt, who is now settled in the UK as a singer, dancer, actor and TV personality. Kimberly achieved worldwide fame with The Pussycat Dolls, selling more than 15 million albums and 40 million singles worldwide, becoming one of the biggest-selling girl groups of all time.

She will bring her high energy, fun DJ set, featuring some of the biggest tracks of the Noughties, dance hits and other pop classics, as part of an outdoor celebration on the Tower Festival Headland on the evening of Friday 30 August.

Ella Henderson will then take to the stage to perform an extended set from her extensive catalogue of hits in a free-to-access outdoor concert on the Tower Festival Headland on Friday 30 August.

Her performance will be followed by the iconic Switch-On moment With Mel B, watched last year by an estimated 80,000 people.