Houdini's escape cell
The magic gallery holds the escape cell Houdini used in 1905 and Tommy Cooper's fez, and it is the room that grips a non-British visitor most.
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A town that built its entire fortune on spectacle and laughter had no museum at all until March 2024. Showtown is Blackpool's first, a 13-million-pound project on Bank Hey Street inside the Sands Venue Resort Hotel building, next door to Blackpool Tower. Its subject is the town itself: how a village on a cold sea became the capital of British popular entertainment. Six galleries carry it. The seaside and the working-class holiday; the circus, with the legacy of the clown Charlie Cairoli; ballroom and social dancing, big bands and Northern Soul; comedy and variety; magic, including Houdini's 1905 escape cell and Tommy Cooper's fez; and finally the Illuminations. Around eight hundred objects, some on loan from the V&A, among them the Sooty and Sweep puppets, laid out by the studio Casson Mann as, in its lead designer's words, a museum for people who do not go to museums: buttons, screens and things to try rather than walls of small print. Honesty helps here. Half the material is pure British nostalgia, comedians and television shows and songs that will mean nothing to an Arab visitor, and the joke painted on the wall needs local culture to land. What crosses the language barrier is the circus, the magic, the Illuminations room, the old seaside corner, and everything children can touch. An hour and a half to two hours covers it generously. Adult admission is 9.50 pounds, children aged four to fifteen 4.50, three and under free, family tickets from 17.50; the ticket covers a single visit and a timed online booking is the sensible way in. Happiness!, the Ken Dodd exhibition, runs until 3 January 2027 and is included in the admission ticket at no extra cost. Doors open at 11:00 every day, but from Monday to Friday the museum closes at 15:00 and only at the weekend does it stay open until 17:00, so check before you set off. There is no cafe inside, only a shop selling drinks and snacks with plenty of places to eat on the street, but there is a buggy park, free lockers and a Changing Places toilet, and no prayer room. It is an excellent wet-weather option, which in Blackpool covers most of the year.
The magic gallery holds the escape cell Houdini used in 1905 and Tommy Cooper's fez, and it is the room that grips a non-British visitor most.
The circus section, built around the clown Charlie Cairoli, works through image and movement, so it lands with children whatever language they speak.
The Illuminations gallery explains how lighting up the seafront turned into a festival that pulls in millions every autumn, and it is a good primer before you see them at night.
Bank Hey Street, Blackpool FY1 4TQ
Blackpool TowerWhen this steel tower opened in May 1894 it was the tallest man-made structure a1 minute walk
Madame Tussauds BlackpoolWax figures have stood on this stretch of Blackpool's Promenade since 1929, but 4 minutes walk
Winter Gardens, BlackpoolBehind a plain frontage on Church Street, two streets back from the Tower, sits 4 minutes walk
Blackpool IlluminationsIn the autumn of 1879 eight arc lamps were strung along Blackpool's seafront and6 minutes walk
Central Pier, BlackpoolFrom the day it opened in May 1868 this pier never pretended to be refined: whil6 minutes walkFrankly, a large part of the museum is local nostalgia that will not reach you: names, programmes and jokes that need a British childhood. But the circus, the magic, the Illuminations room and the old seaside corner work for anyone, and children enjoy the hands-on sections regardless of language. If you have only one afternoon in Blackpool, the Tower and the beach come first; if it is raining or you are staying several days, this is one of the best things to do indoors.
The museum strongly recommends a timed booking through its website and takes walk-ups only if there is space, with no guarantee of entry, which matters in the summer holidays and during the Illuminations season. Ninety minutes is the sensible minimum and two hours is plenty, so do not book a slot shortly before closing, and note that the doors shut at 15:00 Monday to Friday and 17:00 at the weekend.