A spectacular parade featuring the stars of the world’s favourite children’s TV channel is to be held in Blackpool to mark the start of this year’s Illuminations season.

The Nickelodeon Grand Parade will be staged along the Golden Mile on the evening of Friday 1 September as part of this year’s Switch-On celebrations.

It will see the Switch-On moment returning to the outdoors after three years of being staged indoors due to pandemic restrictions.

This year, the celebrations will get underway with a colourful, larger-than-life float parade featuring the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants and friends, PAW Patrol, Baby Shark, Transformers, and Monsters High. They will be accompanied along the seafront route by marching bands and dancers.

The parade is scheduled to start from Central Pier and head along the Promenade to the Tower Festival Headland. There, the celebration will continue with a free family party with live music and family entertainment, leading up to a grand finale with the iconic celebrity Switch-On moment, followed by a Nickelodeon-themed light show on The Blackpool Tower and a burst of fireworks.

The whole event will be free to access with no tickets required.

Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “Last year, though the Switch-On was staged in front of a limited audience in the Tower Ballroom, thousands of people gathered on the Tower Festival Headland to watch it on a screen, and the previous year even when there was no screen.

“We know how much this celebration means to residents and visitors alike – and we are determined that this year everyone will get a chance to see the Switch-On moment and enjoy what promises to be a fantastic free party.

“Blackpool has a special relationship with Nickelodeon through their long partnership with Blackpool Pleasure Beach and through their involvement in live shows including SLIMEFEST and previous Switch-On events. We are thrilled that they will be bringing more of their magic to the biggest night in Blackpool’s events calendar.”

Lee Sears, EVP and GM of Events, Digital, Ad Sales & Integrated Marketing at Paramount Global “We are excited to bring the Nickelodeon themed parade in its full splendour along Blackpool’s Golden Mile and to produce a spectacular evening of live entertainment to celebrate the Illuminations Switch-On in association with Nickelodeon.”

More details on the parade, the live entertainment and, of course, the identity of who will switch on this year’s Illuminations will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Earlier this year, it was announced that the Illuminations would once again be extended by two months, running nightly until January 1, 2024. Following the launch of the giant Odyssey installation during 2022, the Illuminations manufacturing team are working on three brand new light installations for the coming season.