Get off my chips! How many times have you seen the local gulls dive-bombing an unsuspecting pedestrian, making off with their illicit tasty swag?
Community Arts organisation Aunty Social is back for Lightpool 2025, paying tribute to Blackpool’s resilient and cheeky gulls. Working with local residents, we’ve created an immersive and collaborative multimedia artwork that celebrates our unique relationship with wildlife through the stories and urban legends of the local seagull population.
Featuring crowdsourced video footage, an uplifting dance music soundtrack and party props; this playful installation invites you to channel your inner gull and get the party started.
A large sculpture of the Gull Queen presides over the space, acting as a public monument to this well known, resilient, slightly irritating but essential part of Blackpool’s heritage and the seaside experience.
Working with artist and DJ Linda Devo and filmmaker Ben Kirk, the artwork features a variety of locally crowdsourced audio, photography and video footage.
In collaboration with each other, our textile group Knittaz With Attitude, Queer Craft Club, and Home Education art groups engaged in research, exploration and crafting to develop our understanding of folk imagery and practices to develop a modern day folk ritual. They studied the folk tradition of crowning the May Queen as well as a number of performance-based and social folk dances to bring Gull Power to life for Lightpool 2025.
We started out back in 2011 as a group of friends who wanted something fun, affordable and social to do. There were very few ways to meet new people that didn’t involve going to a pub or a bar. So we raided our attics, scoured our wardrobes and went off to a car boot sale to raise £30 for our very first workshop.
Fast forward to 2025 and we now have a variety of projects on the go as well as online arts and culture magazine Blackpool Social Club and the Blackpool Film Festival. We’re still volunteer-led and we are super proud of all our helpers who help us put on events and activities to a professional standard.
We’re led by people who identify as traditionally marginalised members of the community. It follows that we’re strong advocates of social justice and run ongoing projects that centre and uplift the voices of others who are marginalised, namely LGBTQIA+ people, women and people of the Global Ethnic Majority. Our projects not only raise awareness of current issues, but often go on to raise funds and resources for local support services. We are active campaigners, often supporting people into civic engagement and participation around issues such as climate change and the harassment of women in public spaces.
