Parade Arrangements – We’re making good progress

It’s too early to publish the full details and timing of the Parade Arrangements yet because we are still working on the details with the Council, police etc but things are going well and it would perhaps be useful to provide an update.  We are after all starting from a new Venue this year.

The new Venue, on a Crescent which is right on the South Shore Promenade, has many advantages over Pontin’s for purposes of running the Parade, so things are actually working out rather well this year.

We plan to ride a broadly similar route to last year, Northbound to Gynn Square and then back South, so again we will ride almost the full illuminated length of the Promenade, which is the longest (and brightest) set of illuminations in the UK.  As those who have ridden in the GoldWing Light Parade at Blackpool Illuminations will tell you, there is nothing quite like it – the crowds, the Illuminations, it’s fantastic.

We will muster for the Parade this year on the roadway of the Crescent, right outside the hotels and B&Bs where we will be staying on a roadway which is closed to other traffic and on a part of the Promenade which is unlikely to attract too much attention from pedestrian spectators, which used to be a problem when we started from the Cenotaph.

We will muster facing North and this will allow us to ride directly onto the Promenade for our Northbound leg and the Police have already agreed to control traffic to allow us to do this safely and without interruption.

You may remember that lasyt year we suffered fragmentation of the Parade soon after it set off and our plans for this year are very much focused on avoiding this.  We aim to ride the whole route without becoming fragmented and we have planned for a re-grouping opportunity should that be necessary.

To help achieve this we are planning with the Council to use a “Green Wave” through the traffic lights in both directions through the busy central section of the Promenade.  The Council have a computer controlled traffic light system which we are planning with them to exploit for this purpose.  The plan is to switch the traffic lights in our favour as we approach and to keep them that way until the whole Parade has passed.  The traffic lights will then revert to normal working once we have cleared the last set.

This will be combined with such police assistance and marshalling methods and contingencies as are necessary to achieve the overall aim of slow, smooth and spectacular progress so that the crowds can enjoy seeing and listenning to us and vice versa.  The police have also agreed to tolerate our use of display lighting and horns etc along the Parade Route. (But only during the Parade, so make a spectacle of  yourself at other times during the weekend at your peril.)

We hope to ride continuously along the whole route but there will also be a contingency plan to stop in a safe place and re-group before the Southbound Leg if necessary.  One way or another we hope to have things covered and to achieve a smooth, enjoyable and intact Parade.

The Route will therefore be similar to last year and the year before except that we start a bit further north (just before the Pleasure Beach) and also finish further North by pulling off the Promenade to the left, directly into the Crescent, where there will be plenty of space to park and disperse.

As in previous years we will ride all the way Northwards to the Gynn Square Roundabout and then back South again, so it a worthwhile route along almost the whole of the illuminated Promenade, indeed the Illuminations start and finish directly opposite our Venue.

Non-resident Wingers will be welcome to join the Parade by mustering on the Crescent beforehand and you won’t have to be staying at one of the hotels or B&Bs there to gain access.  Likewise you will be welcome to park there after the Parade and join the Party.

We are confident that we will get such police assistance and help from the Council as we need and the plan does not depend on a formal road closure (except for the Crescent) nor on the use of a rolling road block under police escort, which is no longer considered to be a safe or even a useful as a way of conducting this type of Parade.

We have learned a lot about conducting a Parade along Blackpool Promenade over the eight years it has been running, including last year when we encountered a new type of difficulty.  That difficulty has been reliably overcome and we are satisfied that the Parade will go smoothly.

It’s going to be  a Great Weekend!  More details will be released nearer the time.