It's the bank holiday weekend, the last big one of the summer, so here's a look back at where our kit has been since the schools broke up - and a bit before, because the community season started early this year.
Back in June, Askern Gala Day had our climbing wall, the inflatable Hungry Hippos and an assault course on its free activities list, running alongside the funfair. That one set the tone for the summer.
We started July at the Maltby Model Village family fun day, where our giant helter skelter ran alongside a bouncy castle at a pound a go, right through to five o'clock. The following Saturday we managed three family fun days at once: Gleadless Valley in Sheffield from midday, and Carlton in Lindrick and Thorne in Doncaster from eleven. Thorne was free to get in apart from the pony rides at a pound, which did a steady trade all day. We were back in Maltby the weekend after for the town's summer show.
The last week of July took us to the Rosehill Victoria Park open day in Rawmarsh, where we had the bouncy castle, inflatable slide and music running alongside the park's own programme of bandstand music, an activity trail and train rides. The next day we were at Dinnington Resource Centre for a free family day from eleven till two, with our helter skelter and castle out again, plus face painting, stalls and ice cream on the day's list.
August has been just as busy. We took the 75ft Mega Assault Course, a mobile climbing wall and a field full of bouncy castles to Morends in Doncaster for a community fun day, then slides, a fairground ride and our Hook A Duck stall to Goldthorpe's Bounce Into Summer day on the Wednesday, where adults came in free and children were five pounds on the door. There's been corporate work in the mix too: earlier in the summer the new Inflatable Grand National went out for the first time at Doncaster Racecourse, booked alongside our 220ft assault course for a company fun day.
Most weekends since June, at least one of our crews has been on a park field somewhere in South Yorkshire. Looking back at the diary, most of these days were free to get in or a pound a ride - councils, residents' groups and community associations keep these events cheap because that's the whole point of them. The kit we send is the same stock that goes to corporate fun days; it just spends the day on a park field with a queue of kids instead of a sales team. The helter skelter and the 75ft course don't know the difference.
One other thing the summer had in common: brown grass. The dry weather made every field look like August whatever the month it was, and the inflatables didn't mind a bit.
If you're already thinking about next summer's event, get in touch with the office on 0114 345 0135 and we'll talk through what fits your field and your budget.
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