Rainbow QuarterBlackpool's inclusive quarter: everyone welcome

Chapel Street

By Central Pier and the Central car park, and the 1970s home of a shop called Gone Gay.

Chapel Street is near Central Pier, at the southern edge of the town centre, close to the site of the old Blackpool Central station, which closed in 1964 and is now being redeveloped.

Parking

The council's own Chapel Street car park has closed for the Blackpool Central development. The large Central car park, with disabled bays near its Chapel Street entrance, is the usual alternative for this end of town.

LGBTQ+ history

In the 1970s a fancy-goods shop on Chapel Street, near the Promenade, was called Gone Gay, and the shop next door was called Go Gay. The money from selling it helped pay for the Flamingo, the club that opened on Talbot Road in 1979 and started the modern scene. See the Flamingo remembered and lost venues of the quarter.

Getting here

Central Pier tram stop is the nearest. For the Rainbow Quarter, walk north along the Promenade past the Tower, or take the tram to North Pier.

More about Chapel Street on this site

Sources

More streets

Abingdon StreetThe historic shopping street, a Be Who You Want To Be priority street, with the market and the listed old post office.Topping StreetBetween Talbot Road and Church Street, with Churchills, Aunty Social and the memory of Sapphires.Church StreetThe town's theatre street, with the Winter Gardens, the Grand Theatre and Viva, plus the Horizon drug service.Charles StreetJust east of the station in the town centre, with the W3 Complex men's sauna.Buchanan StreetA town-centre link between Talbot Road and Church Street, with busy bus stops.Edward StreetHome of the local Samaritans branch, with a rare 1860s terrace behind Abingdon Street.Bank Hey StreetBehind the Tower, with Showtown and its Pride Beside the Seaside tours, and the Tower's step-free entrance.Adelaide StreetThe south side of the Winter Gardens, and the name of an LGBT quality-mark GP practice.Elizabeth StreetJust east of the station, with Adelaide Street Family Practice at number 61.South King StreetHome of South King Street Medical Centre, a GP practice with the LGBT inclusion quality mark.Central DriveFrom the Tower area towards Bloomfield Road, home of the organisation behind the town's LGBT youth groups.Every streetThe full list, from the quarter to Bispham and South Shore.

Last checked 10 October 2026. Prices, opening times and services change, so check before you travel.