If you think that just 13 nights of Illumination Tours in Blackpool this year wasn’t enough then you will be pleased to hear the news that Blackpool Transport have announced that they will be continuing until the end of November. Additional dates are set to go on sale shortly with the Frigate due to be running every Friday and Saturday.
The Frigate (which has been running every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday since 15th October) will now also run on 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, 28th and 29th November. It will still be three tours a night, although the times are slightly different with tour departing Pleasure Beach at 1730, 1900 and 2030.
Jane Cole, Managing Director of Blackpool Transport, said: “Our special Illuminations Tours during the Lightpool Festival are proving a huge hit, and have completely sold out. To make sure that even more people can enjoy a nostalgic trip on board one of our historic vehicles, our dedicated team has put together a plan that will see three trips a night on both Friday and Saturday evenings.
“Once again, we expect these special trips to be very popular, and anyone who wants to join them will need to book in advance. We’re all thrilled to be able to extend the tours further into the illuminations season and can’t wait to welcome even more people aboard for an evening to remember.”
Originally it was announced that just 13 nights of Illumination Tours would run this year, following on from the complete suspension of all heritage tram operations last December. This has seen the Frigate operating Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and Balloon 717 on Thursdays and Saturdays. These tours have now sold out, but if you’re out and about in Blackpool you will still be able to see them running until Saturday 1st November.
The latest batch of tours aren’t on sale just yet but further details will follow next week sometime. Check out this booking page for more details – https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/blackpoolheritage/items/286168/calendar/2025/10/.
The Frigate will continue to sail along Blackpool Prom for a bit longer after the announcement of more tours in November. The tram is seen here on tour duty having just passed Central Pier.
Another shot of the Frigate with the Tower looming large in the background. (Both Photographs by Keith47424, 15th October 2025)
What brilliant news. Hopefully I can grab another ride on 736 before the end of the year now. Hopefully this is proving the value these Illuminations tours has for Blackpool Transport.
And this benighted woman thinks she is a worthy recipient of the Tramway of the Year Award. I estimate revenue of north of £60k for the initial two weeks and now BTS smell money off they go!
How much revenue has this team lost this sparkling summer of 2025 with no boats, no balloons and no saloons?? I think you can easily multiply that by ten!
The CEO of Blackpool and Ms Cole should both be shown the door and people who understand real tourism and how to service that need appointed.
I couldn’t agree more. Also remember the couple who had booked a vintage tram for their wedding in the early part of the year and were given a refund. Not to mention that brilliant idea for a Christmas tour using the western train from North Station and partnering with other attractions in the town that was unceremoniously scuppered at the last minute.
However my big concern is that the next excuse will be the trams are too expensive to operate now they’ve got rid of all the traditionally skilled maintenance staff. And what has happened to all the other projects? isn’t there a new underframe destined for a privately owned balloon car hanging around in Rigby Road somewhere? What’s the progress on that project? I assume it’s commercial.
There are lots of ways they could make money from the heritage trams, but there has to be a will to do it. The current management seems to want to do nothing more than buy new buses and make sure they’ve clocked off by 5pm. BT need some stiff competition to give them the kick they deserve. Blue Busses anyone?
If they’ve sold out why aren’t they running EVERY night until the end of November? Also why is the balloon car not doing some of them with it’s higher capacity and the added draw of a top deck?
It’s more proof positive that the full restoration to service of Princess Alice should be a top priority, especially for private hire and tour work.
It’s still a far cry from the old system where there was no pre-booking but tour cars lined up at North Pier until they had cleared the entire queue.
One wonders what will happen if they have advertised the illuminated frigate but it fails for some reason? Where is the trawler as backup?
I suspect lack of crews is the reason for the tours not running more often. I suppose volunteers would help in that regard… oh well, baby steps!
Regarding your final point, the Trawler was never a suitable substitute for the Frigate as its too small – and also very unreliable! Presumably if the Frigate ever fails then 717 will have to step in, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen!
I still think that the ‘heritage’ offering is pretty pathetic but at least someone has actually read the room and decided to keep them going for a few more weeks, so that is worthy of some credit. I hope they might run more tours over the Christmas period as well.
I think the unreliable part of the trawler is thos silly LED screens they fitted to it instead of the previous traditional illuminations. get rid of those and put it back to how it was when it originally appeared and it would probably be fine. In the early days it used to run not just on tours, but throughout the day as well as an ordinary special.
If a balloon has to replace the friggate and seats are all pre-booked, does that then mean we have the crazy situation of a double decker running half empty because ‘walk-up’ passengers wouldn’t be allowed on?
I wonder how many of Blackpool’s visitors don’t even know the tramway exists when they arrive in town? Some of them would probably like to have a tour but would never know how or where to book.
I think that when the Trawler was first introduced it also sometimes appeared on timetabled service duties when these were allocated to crew operated cars. Does this make it the only illuminated car ever to do so?
I think I rode on it while in such use in company with a couple I used to ride the trams with, and at some point the lady complained that its illuminations were not switched on. It may have been at Starr Gate where you were supposed to alight at the ‘unloading’ stop and re-board at the ‘loading’ stop, but anyway while we were off the tram the crew duly obliged for the next trip! I am sure a young lady work colleague of mine who was from Blackpool also rode this tram on a service turn when it was fairly new into service, just for the fun of it and, I think, having some local pride in it! I also have an idea I have experienced it on a full day Starr Gate-Fleetwood duty running ‘flat end’ first and therefore with all the seats going backwards! I agree that this would be a good car to rejoin the service fleet, but as has been said the (also very attractive) Frigate is preferred at present for its higher capacity. Incidentally I actually prefer the appearance of the Frigate in its second (and present) incarnation as an illuminated car, as in its original 1965 guise I didn’t feel it matched the spectacle of the other illuminated cars then runn8ng.
Yes and no, the others didn’t do timetabled work but they have been known to run short specials when moving around. Also balloons have done tours upstairs and specials down!!!!
Wow! I hadn’t heard of Balloons doing that although as we all remember it could be pretty chaotic and ‘anything goes’ on the busiest illuminations nights. I didn’t witness it personally, but I believe I was told Bolton 66 rolled up as ‘last tram from Fleetwood’ in the early hours at least twice! And a favourite memory is a Fleetwood Market day in dazzling sunshine in the 1990s when I encountered the Fleetwood Ferry-Cleveleys shuttle tram. I don’t know how often that ran by that time, but it did on that day. And bizarrely, was worked by Boat car 607, now Crich’s 236!