Bouncy castle and inflatable hire in Southport

How to choose a bouncy castle hire in Southport

Ask two safety questions before price. Is the castle PIPA tagged, which means it has passed an annual inspection under the industry scheme, and what public liability insurance does the firm hold, in pounds. A good operator answers both without blinking and can show you the tag and the certificate on the day. On this page only one firm states both on its own site; several say "fully insured" and no more. "Stated by owner" on a card means we have their word, not the document.

Measure the garden first, including height. A standard castle needs a flat lawn about a metre bigger than the castle on every side, clear of washing lines and branches, and a mains socket within reach of the blower's lead. Slide combos and obstacle courses are much bigger than they look in the photo. Every firm here will tell you the footprint if you ask; the good ones ask you first.

Wind is the thing that cancels parties, not rain. Inflatables should not be used in winds above about 24 mph, and the firm should be the one saying so. Ask what happens to your money if the weather is wrong on the day, and whether the castle comes with a rain cover. Two firms here print their weather policy; ask the others.

Price by the day, and check what the day is. Local prices run from about £50 for a toddler castle to £140 for an obstacle course, with disco domes and slides in between. Some firms price a full day, one prices a five-hour party, and overnight is usually £20 to £25 extra. Deposits vary from none to a non-refundable £20.

Book six weeks ahead for summer. That is the pattern in the Southport groups: asking in July for late August, in March for the May bank holiday. The winter trade is indoor, in halls and community centres, and two firms here specialise in it.

Useful to know in Southport

• PIPA is the inflatable play industry's inspection scheme. A tagged inflatable has been inspected against BS EN 14960 by a registered inspector and carries a numbered tag you can check on the PIPA site. The tag is per castle, not per company, so ask about the one that is coming to you. Source: PIPA inspection scheme
• The Health and Safety Executive publishes plain guidance for hirers and users of inflatables: anchorage, wind limits (do not use above 24 mph), supervision, and not mixing big and small children. It applies to a hire in your garden as much as to a fair. Source: HSE, inflatable play equipment
• Sefton Council's parks and open spaces need permission before an inflatable goes up on them, and the operator has to show insurance. In practice that means garden and hall parties; if you want a castle in a park, ask the council first, not the firm. Source: Sefton Council, parks and open spaces
• The halls: Southport's hire firms set up regularly at Ainsdale Scout Hut, Meols Cop Youth Centre, The Hub in Banks, and church and community halls across the town. One firm on this page now only does indoor hires and lists the halls it works with; another posts its hall setups every weekend.
• Three Southport castle firms have closed in the last few years and their pages are still up; one domain now serves gambling spam. Every card here shows the date it was last checked, and the firms recommended in the Southport groups this summer are all on it.

Indoor and winter parties

From October the garden castle goes away and the hall party takes over. Two firms here are built for it: one is indoor-only now, with hall packages, soft play and party bags, and lists the halls it knows; the other posts a hall setup most weekends at The Hub in Banks and brings soft play, light-up numbers and a sweet cart with it. Use the Indoor filter. Ask the hall about power and ceiling height before you book the castle, because a disco dome needs more of both than a small castle.

Soft play, disco domes and the adults' castle

Soft play for the under-fours is its own small trade here: two firms do nothing else, delivered and set up, and the two party-hire firms carry it alongside castles. Disco domes, enclosed castles with lights and a speaker, are the birthday-party favourite for eight to twelve year olds and three firms have one. For grown-ups there is an adults' castle at one long-established firm and an inflatable nightclub in Ainsdale that does hen parties and Christmas dos. Use the Soft play, Disco domes and Adults filters.

What it costs locally

We do not invent rate cards. In the firms' own words, September 2026: castles from £60 and slides to £110 at the firm founded in 2003, with overnight £20 extra; a tiny tots castle at £50, an adults' castle at £70 and a disco dome at £95 at the family firm in Southport, priced for a five-hour party with no deposit; £65 to £125 a day for castles and a pirate ship at the Birkdale firm, with sumo suits at £45; a princess castle at £65 and a disco castle at £95 from the indoor specialist; and the inflatable nightclub at £200 with a £20 deposit. Everyone else quotes by message. Delivery is free across Southport at all of them and £10 or so to Tarleton, Burscough and Ormskirk.

Frequently asked questions