Can You Put A Bouncy Castle On Artificial Grass?

One of the questions we get asked most commonly is "can we put a bouncy castle on artificial grass or AstroTurf"? The short answer is as a general rule no. Technically it is possible to put a bouncy castle on astro-turf however it just doesn't economically viable and we'll explain why below.

Bouncy castles outdoors are generally anchored using giant stakes, hammered into the grass. When this is impossible, the law states that we must put 163 kilos on every anchor point remembering that a standard children's bouncy castle will have at least 6 anchor points!  163 kilos can be provided in the form of sandbags however at roughly 25 kilos per sandbag we would need 7 sandbags per anchor point or 42 sandbags for a small children's bouncy castle!  Literally a tonne of sand to put it into perspective just what is necessary to safely anchor a bouncy castle.

What this means is that for a single bouncy castle to be placed on artificial grass we could only load the van with one inflatable and the required sand bags before we were legally over the weight limit the van is allowed to carry.  That would mean realistically, we could only do one job per day and as such the price would be astronomical. Not to mention would have biceps the size of Popeye moving around 42 bags of sand onto the van, then back out into the garden and packing all the way at the other end - it is simply just not a practical option.

There is on occasion the possibility of staking the castle down on artificial grass but this is only available if you are willing to have the steaks leave holes in the artificial grass or if you are able to fold the grass back and that there is standard earth under the artificial grass and not a concrete layer as some have.

We are very well aware that some companies are more than happy to throw down four sandbags for the entire inflatable and tell you it will be fine. Customers often don't know the real amount required and so no one is any the wiser until there is an accident. Sadly it's only when an accident occurs that people come to understand exactly why these rules are in place. A strong gust of wind could easily carry away an unsecured and untethered bouncy castle that has been weighted with only a few sandbags and if a child is on the inflatable at the time the result doesn't bear thinking about

For the same reason we are unable to set up on concrete as it's just not safe. With very well aware that others get away with it without an incident for a long time, but inevitably sooner or later there will be an accident and a child will pay the price.

We very much understand why people like artificial grass in their homes. No mowing the lawn, no weeds and you can use it all year round to play on and that's lovely but it's just not suitable for a bouncy castle. As such, we would highly recommend that if you have artificial grass or AstroTurf in your garden you look to hire a hall for your party or if that's really not an option then maybe look at using a parent or family members garden instead.  It is just no worth the risk of unsafely setting up a bouncy castle on astro-turf