StoryTrails - Blackpool

StoryTrails offers you the opportunity to experience Blackpool in a completely new way by using technology to bring hidden stories of your town/city to life.  Drop into Central Library, Queen Street and try out a range of different immersive and virtual reality experiences or go on a guided tour of your town with the StoryTrails app as your tour guide.

Experience history where it happened through a mix of stunning augmented reality (AR) experiences that remix the BFI and BBC archive. The app, narrated by D J Zoe (Funny Girls), welcomes you to the city dubbed the ‘gay capital of the north’ and takes a fun ‘Queercoaster’ ride through Blackpool’s LGBTQ+ history.

Led by a StoryTrails guide, the guided app tour starts at the central library and continues on series of pathways along the streets of Blackpool. Ride the ups and downs to find out why all things queer were hidden from sight and show folks like the notorious Colonel Barker in the 1930s was a golden mile freak show! Travel through the brightest and darkest days of the 1980s and 90s, get woken up by the divine Divine, and join the all singing full-colour flamboyant troupe, Basil Newby’s Funny Girls.

Close your eyes and envision a map of your city through memories and stories. StoryTrails has done just that by interviewing the people of Blackpool and building a visual 3D landscape of their powerful stories inside the library. Interact with each scene created by ground-breaking scanning technology on the iPads provided or sit and watch shared on the big dome screen giving you an immersive experience.

Get lost in the joyous day time raves culture of the British South Asian community or step into the diary of a teenager as she discovers the world of punk music in two of the seven virtual reality storytelling experiences.

Time travellers need no previous technical experience and electronic mobile devices can be borrowed for the tour if you don’t have your own.

Just turn up and join in.

Download the app 

Apple iOS (iPhone)   Google Play (Android)