Blackpool is celebrating its role as one of six cities of circus in the UK with a season-long programme of special events including live entertainment, events and exhibitions.
The celebrations, which mark the 250th anniversary of circus in the UK, will be heavily focused on the Blackpool Tower Circus, now open for the season until November 4.
It will also incorporate other key attractions including Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool Illuminations, its cinema and art gallery.
The main highlight will be The Blackpool Tower Week Of Circus taking place in early July and featuring a circus parade along the Golden Mile, a Circus250 talent competition to find a star of the future and a special charity VIP performance of the current Blackpool Tower Circus show.
That will be followed by a summer-long circus-themed exhibition in the Grundy Art Gallery and a series of specially-commissioned features within the Illuminations between September and early November.
Other places that have been chosen to take part in the anniversary celebrations are Belfast, Bristol, Great Yarmouth and Norwich, Newcastle-under-Lyme and London, where that first circus performance took place on the Embankment when showman Philip Astley drew out a ring and filled it with performers.