Blackpool Illuminations Switch On 2020: Bring on the light - countdown is on to big virtual Switch On - here is how to tune in and everything you need to know

When is this year's Switch On event happening?

Join Jordan Banjo alongside Perri Kiely from 8.30pm this Friday September 4 for a FREE hour-long live streamed concert as well as the all-important switch on moment, with Britain’s Corona Heroes. It is the first time the event will be broadcast to global audiences in Illumination's history.

Where will the Lights Switch On take place?

In a major departure from previous years, which have seen the seafront Tower Festival Headland packed with 20,000 fans, the 2020 event will be

broadcast online from the Empress Ballroom with a combined set of live and pre-recorded performances. Blackpool singer songwriter Rae Morris will be flying the flag for the resort live from the Winter Gardens

How do we tune into the live stream?

The show will start at 8.30pm. It is a free viewing event and will be available through logging on to: visitblackpool.com/switchon, youtube.com/mtvinternational and facebook.com/mtvmusicuk will switch on this year’s Blackpool Illuminations. They include a consultant, two nurses, a hospital catering manager, two extraordinary fundraisers, and a therapy dog and his owner.

Who is switching on the Lights in 2020?

A selection of the “corona heroes” who kept us safe at the height of the global pandemic have been chosen to turn on the Lights next month, in recognition of their efforts.

Among those chosen to flick the famous switch is Dr Jason Cupitt, who led the coronavirus response in the intensive care unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Joining him will be Trinity Hospice nurse Kirsty Jones, who moved out of her family home for five weeks to continue working and protect her husband and two young children, who were shielding.

Leona Harris, a nurse from Rossendale who worked as a COVID-19 frontline nurse at Fairfield Hospital in Bury.

Rachelle Sutton, who for three months,moved out of the family home and lived in a hotel so that she could complete 12-hour shifts at the Nightingale Hospital in Manchester.

David Anderson and Jasper the therapy dog. Hospital chaplain David and his cockapoo have provided support and comfort to sick patients as well as boosting morale for the staff on wards at East Lancashire’s NHS Hospitals

And six year old Will Ritchie from the Wirral, who was born with a severe visual impairment and suffers with epilepsy and during lockdown launched Will’s Marathon Month, completing completing 30 miles and raising more than £14,000 for the Wirral University Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust COVID-19 Support Fund.