A day on the sands in South Wales is cheaper than in the West Country, according to a new beach budget report.

The once familiar sight of a red and white striped booth is in danger of disappearing from British beaches with over one in three children (37 pc) saying they have never experienced a Punch & Judy show. 

In comparison, 78 pc of adults used to watch at least one show a year when they were children.
In an effort to save the show, Chevrolet, the car maker synonymous with value for money, has created the world’s first in-car Punch & Judy theatre.
The custom-made booth fits onto the side of a Chevrolet Captiva allowing Punch & Judy Professors to perform from the back seat of the car.
The free mobile show will tour up and down the country this summer bringing the fun of old-fashioned entertainment to a new generation of beach goers.

The research of over 1,000 UK families revealed that as well as the Punch & Judy show falling out of favour, other traditional beach entertainment is also in decline with 41 pc of today’s children have never been on a donkey ride (compared to 26 pc of their parents) and 73 pc have never taken part in a sand castle competition.

UK parents will take at least three trips to the British seaside this summer, but with a day’s beach entertainment costing an average of £73 it could be an expensive outing. Indeed, three quarters (74 pc) of parents say they feel anxious about the cost of keeping the family entertained over the summer holidays.

Susan Kalair, from Chevrolet, said, “Parents are feeling the finanicial pinch more than most this summer so it’s a shame to see traditional, value for money entertainment disappearing from our beaches. 

“Hopefully our specially-created mobile Punch & Judy car will bring back fond memories for parents and create new ones for the huge number of children who have never even seen the show. As Punch would say: “that’s the way to do it!”

The lowest cost beach days out are found on the West Scottish coast with parents spending an average of £52 to keep the family entertained, with the top ten least expensive coastlines– based on how much people spend on keeping their family entertained for the day – identified as:

East Scottish Coast (Montrose, Aberdeen Beach, St Andrews West Sands)

South East Coast (Broadstairs, Margate, Southend)

South Wales Coast (Barry, Swansea Bay, Tenby)

South West Coast (Torquay, Newquay, Bude)

North Irish Coast (Ballycastle, Cranfield Bay, Portstewart)

North East Coast (Scarborough, Skegness, Whitley Bay)

South Coast (Brighton, Weymouth, Eastbourne)

East Coast (Great Yarmouth, Cleethorpes, Wells)