WHERE casino plans have failed, stag nights have stalled and the end-of-the pier show is a day trip too far, many would say our once-great seaside resort of Blackpool needs some new ideas.
Especially come the winter months when it might as well be renamed Bleakpool.
So if you thought The Big One was only to be found at Pleasure Beach, here's some news which is being described as “one of the most exciting things to have happened in live music in recent years”.
The ultimate Big One – a festival of festivals, scooping up 16 of the best ones around – is being pulled together in the depths of December under the banner One Of These Days.
Curated in a single space – the Winter Gardens complex – it's a weekender designed to kick start the cultural redevelopment of the resort.
One Of These Days is actually two days: December 8 and 9 and, say organisers, will be a world first.
"Explode"
It “will capture the essence of Field Day, Oya Festival, Melt!, Kendal Calling, Glastonbury Dance Village, Electric Elephant, End of The Road, DFA Records, SWN Festival, The Warehouse Project, Now Wave, Free Rotation, Eden Sessions, Fiber Festival and Shambala”.
If all of that gets you going then read on.
“One Of These Days will be two days like no other in the international festival calendar,” they claim.
“Never,” organisers add, “have so many of the world’s best events come together to create a one-off spectacular, and the look and feel of each event will be distilled and brought to Blackpool and allowed to explode aurally and visually into the many rooms of the Winter Gardens.
“From the spectacular Cubehenge light installation of Glastonbury to the indoor forests of End of the Road and the Croatian beaches of Electric Elephant, each festival will bring a taste of the place they call home to Blackpool.”
You got that?
Promoter Ruth Daniel says: “We were going around the world to many different festivals, seeing really unique ways of doing things. We decided to invite these wonderful festivals to the party.
“We aimed high and asked the festivals we love to come to Blackpool. They said yes…”
One of These Days aims to utilise Blackpool's existing infrastructure of Victorian theatres and bars that stretch along the coastline.
Other people behind it include Jon Drape, live director of Ear To The Ground which produced Liverpool's Capital of Culture opening ceremony.
Full line-up soon.
*One of These Days, Dec 8-Dec 9, Winter Gardens, Blackpool. Weekend tickets from £59 now at www.ticketline.co.uk or 0161 832 1111. For more see here
