Blackpool, city and district,( pop. 146,297) in Lancashire, north England, is on the coast of the Irish Sea. Famed as a traditionally working-class resort (with often inhospitable weather), Blackpool has 7 mi (11.3 km) of beaches and promenades, many sport and amusement facilities, and a tower 158m high, modeled on the Eiffel Tower.

Today Blackpool remains the most popular seaside resort in the UK, however the town has suffered a serious drop in numbers of visitors which has fallen from 17 million in 1992 to 10 million today. Similarly Blackpool Pleasure Beach remains the country's most popular free attraction with 6 million visitors a year.

Reputedly, the city still has more hotel and B&B beds than the whole of Portugal.

Blackpool Dance Festival is a world famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance. Seeing some of the greatest loved dances performed to an ever growing audience.

Blackpool is reknowned for its Illuminations consisting of a series of lighted displays and collages arranged along the entire length of the sea front.