Blackburn Ice Rink (also known as Planet Ice Blackburn) is located at the southern end of Blackburn town centre. It is one of the larger rinks in the UK, with an Olympic-sized ice surface and plenty of spectator seating.
Planet Ice Blackburn is home to a number of ice hockey teams, including the Blackburn Hacks of the NIHL North 1 league. It is just one of 41 ice rinks in the UK that are home to competitive ice hockey teams.
Information For Blackburn Ice Rink
Blackburn Ice Rink Parking
Planet Ice Blackburn parking is very convenient. The rink has a large car park, which is free of charge. If this happens to be full, there are plenty of other options at the neighbouring retail outlets.
Blackburn Hawks Ice Hockey Team
Blackburn Hawks is an ice hockey team playing in the UK’s NIHL 1 North (Moralee) division. The team is based at Plant Ice Blackburn.
The amateur NIHL 1 league is the third-highest in the UK, behind the EIHL and NIHL National leagues. Nine teams compete in the northern division (see below), and eight teams compete in the southern division.
NIHL 1 North (Moralee) Teams
| Billingham Stars | Sheffield Scimitars |
| Blackburn Hawks | Solihull Barons |
| Deeside Dragons | Whitley Warriors |
| Hull Jets | Widness Wild |
| Nottingham Lions |
The teams charge for entry for games, generally £5-£10 for a non-concessionary adult and reduced rates for children and OAPs.
NIHL 1 North teams compete for the regular season, playoff and national titles, and the Moralee and Challenge cups. The regular season runs from September to late March, and the season concludes in mid-April with a final between the northern and southern playoff champions.
How Cold Is Blackburn Ice Rink?
If you haven’t been to a hockey game before, you need to know that ice rinks are cold places (not a surprise!). And the closer you are to the ice, the colder you will be.
Also, hockey rinks in the UK aren’t heated, so temperatures in the arena drop in line with outside temperatures. We would rank the temperature of the Blackburn Ice Rink as very cold compared to other rinks in the UK.
Blackburn Ice Rink Seating
Planet Ice Blackburn is one of the larger rinks in the UK, with a spectator capacity of around 3,500. It is an excellent place to watch a game (apart from the cold!) where there is raised seating on two sides of the rink, giving good views of the ice.
10 Best Ice Rink Activities To Do At Blackburn Ice Rink
Watching an ice hockey game is just one of many things to do at Blackburn Ice Rink. There is a wide range of ice rink activities on offer, including:
- Public ice skating sessions
- Ice skating lessons
- Show and skate lessons
- Ice hockey lessons
- Join a recreational ice hockey team.
- Ice dancing or figure skating
- Speed skating
- Ice skating birthday parties
- Try an ice disco with music, a DJ and disco lights.
- Watch an ice show.
