Really looking forward to a proper silly season this year

With a quiet August on the cards, I’m really excited to see some good old fashioned silly season stories.  Who’s with me?

August presents a conundrum for writing a ‘what’s coming up’ themed column. Last year was busy enough – we had lots going on with the pandemic still in full flow. Remember Eat Out To Help Out? That was a year ago now! Doesn’t time fly!

This August though, is remarkable for its lack of really remarkable things happening. Hey ho, we’re back to normal. Instead, I’m really looking forward to a good old-fashioned bout of silly season stories.

What’s the origins of so-called silly season? Well, the obvious answer is that we’re in full summer holiday mode and schools are out, so less is happening in the world.

But its more than that, and comes down to the ebb and flow of the old-school print newspapers. There might be less going on, but a daily paper still has column inches to fill. Hence the ‘silly’ news.

Here are some of my personal finance favourites of the season so far:

• Is your postcode giving you a ruff deal on pet insurance? William the spaniel costs £500 more in Cirencester than Devon… and the reasons are barking
• Forgotten Pokemon cards kept under stairs for years fetch £19,000 at auction
• Scotland to host ‘luxury’ marathon costing £15,499 to enter

To be fair some of these stories do just use fun news hooks to convey what is essentially important information. Send me your favourites at edmund.greaves@mrm-london.com.

Alas, to the things actually happening. We have the CMA findings on the Facebook/Giphy merger expected in early August.

Then there is a succession of alcohol and beverage related days: International Beer Day on 6 August, National Rum Day on 16 August and National Burger Day on 26 August.

Reading and Leeds Festival are set to go ahead between 27-29 August, the first such major festivals to run since the onset of the pandemic.

And that really is about it, other than the usual suspects such as wages and employment (17 August) and inflation (18 August).

Here’s wishing you a happy summer from all of us at MRM, Mouthy Money and Capital City Media.