by Rose Conrad

Created on: July 31, 2010   Last Updated: August 01, 2010

The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting chillier, and the schools are about to go back for the winter term, but there is still one last chance for the family to enjoy themselves here in the UK before Summer is over, and that is August Bank Holiday. Unfortunately holidays have a bad habit of costing money, but there are still ways to have fun cheaply during the last holiday before Christmas.

Although the nights are drawing in, day time temperatures can still be a balmy 25C or above, so you can always take the children for a picnic, which usually goes down well. One of the best things about the UK is how compact everything is, so even if you live in the centre of London, Birmingham or another large city, you can reach some lovely unspoilt countryside with a drive of only half an hour or so. So make some sandwiches, hard-boil some eggs, pack a blanket and some waterproofs (well you never can tell here!) and go off to the Berkshire Downs, Watership Down, Stratford-upon-Avon, the Lake District and have a fun day out with minimum expenditure.  The kids will enjoy eating al fresco, and running around in the open air, and you will enjoy a day without cooking and washing up. Just make sure you take a bin liner with you to collect the used paper plates and plastic cutery when you have finished. To leave it littering the countryside is illegal in most areas as well a being distinctly anti-social.

August Bank Holiday is Carnival time in London, when the Notting Hill carnival attracts over 800,000 revellers to the streets of west London for a Caribbean themed festival involving floats, dancers, and steel band music, There will be a childrens' parade to start the festivities off this year, so why not go along and enjoy the atmosphere and the free entertainment? The only money you may need to spend is for the delicious West Indian and Caribbean foods they will sell from stalls along the route. For those in the North of England, a similar Carnival event, albeit on a smaller scale, will be taking place in Leeds with the Leeds West Indian Carnival, and the Gay Pride March in Manchester is always fun.

If rock music is your interest, then why not listen to the famous Reading Rock festival, which takes place on the banks of the River Thames in Reading over the Bank Holiday? 3-day passes for the Festival, which has been taking place in Reeding for more than 25 years now, are admittedly expensive and will have been snapped up months in advance. However, Reading Rock is audible in many areas of the town, and many rock and indie music fans simply go down to the river bank with some beers and a picnic and enjoy listeng to the bands without paying a penny.  And in the evenings during Reading Rock, the town is full of improptu concerts and free live music shows in local pubs and clubs, so music fans can have a cheap August Bank Holiday weekend that way.

The English are renowned for their "eccentricity", in fact we're rather proud of it, so it is not surprising that many free events over the August Bank Holiday have a somewhat bizarre theme. Duck racing on the river, Morris Dancing, medieval jousting shows, gravy wrestling, and playing "football in the river" where two teams play 6-a-side football against each other whilst wading in the River Windrush at Bourton on the Water, are only some of the events you can enjoy for free over the August Bank Holiday. Most villages will have some kind of local Fete or Fayre with free entrance, and most have a firework display at night.

So go on, before Jack Frost spreads his chilly fingers over the Northern Hemisphere, go out and have fun on the August Bank Holiday - it doesn't have to cost a fortune.

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