Above: Scenes from Blackpool events past
Date: Saturday 16th September 2023
Venue: The Wainwright Club, 173 Hornby Road, Blackpool, FY1 4RD
Admission: £10, payable here
Start time: 11:15am (doors open at 10:30am)
Finish time: approx. 5:30pm
Hosted by: Bradley Horrocks
Games to be played: 6, plus Grand Final
Wheelchair accessible?: Yes
We’re back in Blackpool for 2023! Previous master of ceremonies Mark has found us another great venue, but this time it will be Countdown legend Bradley who takes over the hosting duties.
Getting to the venue
The venue is fully accessible and is a 15 minute walk from the promenade, in the centre of Blackpool, so is easy to get to by train and tram. Blackpool North train station is a mile walk from the venue, and has regular services to Preston, Liverpool, and Manchester. Plenty of free parking on site, you will have to enter your car registration inside.
How the tournament works
Blackpool is a Lincoln-style event. Three rounds of games across the day, with three players to a table in each round. One person hosts/adjudicates while the other two play and pick their letters and numbers in turn.
So you play twice and host once in each round, which means you’ll play six games and host three altogether. (For more details, see ‘How do you play?’ here.)
A Grand Final between the top two players in the table will play out in front of its audience sometime around 4:30pm, followed by prize giving at around 5pm
Accommodation
There are many B&Bs/hotels to choose from, starting from £30/night at time of writing. Hornby Road itself has several options, which would place you both a short walk from the venue and the promenade!
Other bits of fun
The local parkrun has been a hit at the last two co-events! Stanley Park is only a kilometre from the venue, though you may want to shower first 
And the exciting news is that we have the venue until 11pm, so the plan will be to have karaoke on-site! Plans for Friday night and the post-event food will be revealed soon. On Sunday morning, we will most likely be heading to the arcades to see which cute stuffed animals we can win this year.
Payment
You can secure your place for £10, payable to Bradley by PayPal. Please remember to select the “family/friends” option.
Attending or organising a FOCAL event is subject to the FOCAL Code of Conduct.
Last updated: 04/06/23
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