to feel sad that we could never go to the local fairs/fun days, of which there are many

[EleanorReally]

when dc were younger.
or if we did go we could hardly spend the money

who are these fun days for?
so expensive for families

even the local fun fairs?

but i still feel depressed when i drive by them now, and the memories of counting up the money to see if we could go - going in and not being able to go on the actual rides.

Never used to take my DC either. Always found them far too expensive, even the 'free' ones.

I mostly remember going to these sorts of things as a teen- so I had my own pocket money and also knew when it was gone it was gone!

I imagine, to be fair, that the cost of maintaining these sorts of rides is not cheap, and personally, I would rather they were a bit more expensive but safe! I imagine they also have to cover their costs for storage during the off season.

I also agree that not buying foods or sweets saves a lot- but I guess that might seem a bit joyless.

I doubt many people get into debt for things like this- I think that's a bit of an odd comment =/

I agree it's a shame if your kids can't do things that others are doing, but there will always be something you can't afford and people all have different priorities.

There’s an annual fair in our village, and we go every year. It is expensive but we set a limit and most certainly don’t get into debt for it.
Not much happens in our village so it’s the highlight of the year as far as village entertainment goes .

I also thought the getting into debt comment was odd, some people have more disposable income than others. We have an ‘entertaining the children’ budget and it would come out of that.

I agree with the PP about having rides at all events- the local park near me has them quite regularly and it really puts me off going as I have to say no constantly and the park is supposed to be a free outing.

There's not much else to do either which doesn't actually help

Been to a few 'fun' fairs recently, most rides were £2.50 each and some of the better ones were £4 each. I have 2 kids, so for 2 rides you're looking at a £10-13. Fuck that for a lark. I bloody hate seeing the fair show up so that when we drive past the kids beg. Fuck off with your £7 a bag candy floss and shove it up your arses. On a slightly different topic, but one I'm still seething about, yesterday I paid £11.60 for 4 99's, I remember when they were...well....99p.

Those of you posting that you can afford it, but don't, are missing the point though. You have a choice.
It's much harder when you don't have that choice. The lowest time of my life with kids, was when I couldn't afford for them to go to the playgroup Christmas party. It only cost £1.50 each (this was 25 years ago) but we also had to provide a gift for santa to give them. I couldn't even find the £3, never mind the money for a gift.

Life is of course, very different now. But I always look back on that day when I find myself doubting people who say they can't afford something, or responding as some people have here.

We have an annual funfair around the time of our gala day. The local community groups fundraise and local shops donate so that all nursery and primary children get a free lunch bag and wristband for the rides on the day of the gala. That way everyone can join in

We have taught the children, that’s it’s either 3 rides (so less than twenty minutes) at the fair or we can take them to the climbing centre/water park/trampoline park for far longer. They always choose the later and have much more fun.

We have friends who think nothing of spending £20+ per child on crap fairground rides and hook a duck type games and then wonder why they have money left at the end of the month. I refuse to be like that. I know it sounds like I’m a misery, but we have just had a fabulous holiday and were able to treat the dc on outings/treats because we don’t fritter our cash away on tat. And actually the best day we had was on the beach with a tennis ball and we have 2 secondary age and 1 primary age dc, so that activity could have gone either way! It sounds so crap, but you know that children don’t need money spent to have a good time, it just seems like they do when you have no spare cash.

I hope they have improved since I was young. There were always really sleazy men in their 20s and 30s chatting up and flirting with 12/13 year old girls who were obviously loving it. I'd hate my daughter to be taken advantage of by a grown adult like this.

Our local one was 3 quid a ride. I have 4 kids....we went home lol

I feel sad that some of them are just expensive and have no real traditions, and you would be better off not going and saving towards a trip say to Alton Towers or Thorpe Park. Plus as one person has mentioned, I'm not confident that the people running them are all decent good people (have any been DBS checked, for example?).

Also, if you can afford it and choose not to go, you'll have plenty of other activities you can afford so kids don't really feel like they're missing out so much.

We quite often go to the funfair - but know a lot of people there, so spend best part of an afternoon chatting to people we know. Daughter would only have x amount of her pocket money to spend so when it was gone it was gone. She'd often come home with spare money though. Just because you have money doesn't mean it has to be spent.
Likewise we could wander round Toys R Us and she's enjoy looking at everything but because there was nothing she absolutely wanted most times we'd come out empty handed but still clutching her birthday money. Children need to learn to savour the moment and not expect to go on everything.

They're shit and run by tax dodging crims anyway.
Care to provide any research to support that Harold ? Or are you always bigoted against minorities?
Sheesh, the traveller-bashing threads get earlier every year on MN

It is annoying but in all honesty my favourite childhood memories involve climbing trees and making dens. My kids live in a big city and still find trees to climb. The fairs we have been too really annoy me as they are so expensive and the kids always end up whingeing.

YANBU. They are such a swizz.

I went for the first time yesterday with toddler DD. We managed (with another parent and toddler) to spend £16 on two rides in under 10 minutes (including queuing and waiting time). DD loved it, we're not hard up, but it's not something we'll do frequently.

@MintCassis Well aren't you lucky! Not everyone is quite so fortunate as you and your village

its cheaper to go to Alton Towers.... and safer....and better rides

The ones here have a wristband, and you pay so much for unlimited rides (About £10.00 per person I think!) or 10 tokens £1.00 per ride) .Do the children have pocket money, or you could save up some child benefit beforehand maybe.For me the actual rides are not really my cup of tea, but DC and DH used to like them when they were little .I like the atmosphere TBH all the noise and lights people having a nice time !

@Bwekfusth

Yesterday I paid over £16 for 2 little cartons of apple juice, 2 chocolate brownies and 3 mini tubs of icecream. £16!!!!!

DD used to love funfairs but they’re overpriced and wouldn’t pay those prices even if I was rolling in it. However, we happen to live in an area with two theme parks within a 45 minute bus ride and so DD would rather go to those instead.

We've just been to see Circus Zyair and got early bird tickets for £3 each instead of £8.99. There's always deals to be had if people can be bothered to do some reaearch! It was a great fun afternoon out too, I would recommend it.