A full funfair is more than side stalls and a bouncy castle. DB Entertainment supplies complete fairground rides - waltzer, dodgems, Ferris wheel, ghost train, funhouses and the juvenile rides for smaller children - delivered, built and run by trained operators across Yorkshire and nationwide. This is the kit that fills a field at a corporate fun day, a town centre event or a large private party, and this post runs through the ride line-up and what a ride package needs on site.
What rides are in the range?
The funfair rides section covers the whole spread. The Waltzer has been the centrepiece of fairs for a good 100 years - the cars spin freely as the platform turns, riders sit on bench seats behind locking lap bars, and hire starts from £2,995 plus VAT with our own crew building and running it all day. The Dodgems are real bumper cars, not inflatables: a 75ft x 50ft track with six to eight two-seater cars, a lighting rig, a sound system and an operator on the controls throughout. We own more than one rink, so the dodgems can appear at two events on the same weekend.
The Ferris Wheel is trailer-mounted, with open bench gondolas around the rim and an illuminated front sign - it stands several times the height of an adult and gets booked as the headline attraction. The Ghost Train is a proper two-level dark ride with a 78ft x 18ft footprint and hire from £2,100 plus VAT, with ride photos available at £3 each. For walk-through crowds there are two funhouses: the two-floor Funhouse with its rotating barrel from £1,795, and the 3 Deck Funhouse from £3,950, which stacks three floors of obstacles and an enclosed spiral tube slide into a unit standing 20ft high.
The smaller rides for younger children
A big waltzer is wasted on a five-year-old, so the juvenile rides matter. The Juvenile Chair O Planes measures just 15ft x 15ft and suits children up to around eight years old, with self-contained generators included so it works on sites with no power. The Juvenile Jump and Smile - the frog ride, with its "Hold Tight" sign - hops the cars over the bumps as they go round, and it takes adults too, so a parent can ride with a nervous one. Both pair naturally with the Twister and Runaway Train on family sites, which are the rides that have travelled furthest for us, including a corporate conference at Telford Exhibition Centre alongside a rodeo bull and a thousand portions of candy floss.
What a ride package needs
Mechanical rides ask more of a site than inflatables, and it's worth knowing before you book. Space comes first: a dodgem rink needs 75ft x 50ft of firm, level ground, and the three-deck funhouse wants a 100ft x 75ft site with vehicle access for the artics that tow it in. Power is the second thing - the Ferris wheel runs off a 16A 240V supply or a 6kW-plus generator, which we can supply, and ground protection matting is available for soft sites. Every ride arrives with trained operators who stay for the duration. Risk assessments and method statements are issued to you or your venue in advance, inspection documents are available for any council that asks, and public liability sits at £5 million as it does on every ride hire. A minimum order value can apply depending on the postcode, which is worth raising early in the conversation.
Where the rides go
The large rides work at corporate family fun days, council events, university balls and town centre bookings, and they've travelled to London, Peterborough, Coventry, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, as well as closer to home in Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, Barnsley, Worksop and Chesterfield. One of the biggest single jobs in our history was a two-day private scout funfair with dodgems, a Miami, the Twister, the Runaway Train, a giant ski jump and catering alongside. That scale is unusual - most bookings are one or two rides with a few side games - but it gives a sense of what can be assembled. Recent feedback from a company barbecue where we supplied the fairground games: "the communication from start to finish was excellent. Everything arrived on time, as planned and as described" (Jayne, five stars).
If the ride you want isn't listed, ask anyway - the network of showmen we work with can usually source it. Call 0114 345 0135 with the venue, the surface and a rough head count, or check the delivery page to see how we cover your area.
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