How much can the 'July Fortnight' save families?

Since the 1960s, families in Leicestershire have avoided the busy airport scramble of the peak holiday season. But how much can you actually save with a two-week headstart on school holidays?

The "July Fortnight" was introduced in 1965 after a ballot held among workers in Leicester and Leicestershire allowed factories and businesses to close for the first two weeks of the month.

According to one local travel agent, the early summer finish still comes as a "big advantage" for families taking a summer holiday.

The BBC found families with school-age children in the county can save hundreds of pounds by booking holidays in mid-July, rather than the peak season.

Research by the BBC found a stay at Butlin's in Skegness, from 12 to 16 July 2027, for a family of two adults and two children - with a food court dining plan - would cost £314.72.

The same trip between 2 to 6 August 2027 would cost £645.68.

A trip - including flights and self-catering accommodation - to Tenerife from East Midlands Airport for two children and two adults in a two-bedroom apartment at a three-star hotel between 12 to 19 July 2027 via travel operator TUI would cost £2,337.

A holiday to the same destination from the same airport between 2 to 9 August would cost £481 more.

Similarly, a trip from London Heathrow to Disney's All-Star Movies Resort in Orlando is £163.76 cheaper between 12 and 19 July 2027 compared to 2 to 9 August 2027.

The idea around the Leicestershire Workers' July Fortnight was that each area of the Midlands would head to popular local seaside resorts - such as Skegness in Lincolnshire - at different times, preventing overcrowding.

Catherine, a mother of three from Coalville, said the July Fortnight was still important to families.

She said: "It's a cultural thing really that people are so used to it now.

"We're used to having that extra time off in July when the rest of the country's still at school, and then we are used to going back slightly earlier because of that.

"But also, for families it helps with the cost of holidays."

She added she went on holiday with her children during the July Fortnight, and said: "It cost us probably about half what it would have cost if we'd gone the week after."

Tim Barton-Knott, managing director of Barton Knott Travel, based at Beaumont Shopping Centre, said prices were based on "supply and demand".

"The more people who want to go away at any one time, then essentially the less stock of holidays there will be, and therefore the cost of those holidays will be dearer," he added.

Barton-Knott said the difference between going on holiday to an all-inclusive resort in Majorca could be up to £1,000 for families between the July Fortnight and the peak season.

"It makes a substantial difference," he added.

He agreed families in Leicestershire often went on holiday during the July Fortnight but added it "hasn't got the same sort of meaning as it used to have".

"Leicestershire was a great manufacturing centre, hosiery centre, so it made economic and commercial sense for factories to close for two weeks, and that's when everybody would take their holiday," he said.

"That was the July Fortnight, but now it's a completely different scenario."

Earlier this year, Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council set out proposed changes to school term times which could have ended the traditional early start to the summer break.

In a report, the county council said: "Many families like Leicestershire's traditional approach, which includes a very early summer break.

"This can mean cheaper family holidays, but some families face difficulties when children attending different schools in the same family, particularly around the county borders, follow different term-time patterns."

However, the proposals were later withdrawn.

The county council has agreed to set future term dates on a pattern that is largely unchanged from those that have been traditionally in place.

Leicester City Council has already set a similar school calendar up to 2032.

A consultation carried out by the county council into school term dates for the academic years from 2027-28 to 2031-32 - which did not have an option for a changed July Fortnight - received positive comments for the retention of the earlier finish.

In 2027, schools in Leicestershire will finish their summer term on 6 July, compared to 26 July in Derbyshire.

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