How much does it cost?

The simple answer is quite a bit actually! However, it does depend on if you get involved in every aspect seriously.

Lessons
My lessons started out in 1996 at £2.50 for one hour, each week.
After about five months the more advanced dancers were split from the rest and we then had a Two hour lesson for the same price. This was later increased to £3.00. (£4.00 in 2001)
However, as I became more advanced I needed to have extra lessons and therefore attended the Bedford advanced class as well each week, also £3.00. (now £4.00) Bedford is about 20 miles away, so a helpful Dad is required!
On top of this, Eamonn sometimes has an extra class for teaching us specific dances for display purposes. (2-Hand and 3-Hands etc.) These are normally £5.00 for three or four hours. We are currently working on a Ceili team which costs us £5.00

Shoes
Light shoes vary from around £16 to around £20 depending on size, with an extra £1 or so for the elastic loops! (Unless you go for Hullachans which are about £35.)
Heavy shoes start at around £45 and go as high as £90 depending on size and exact style. Fortunately, you will probably not need heavy shoes until your second year of dancing.
There are many shoe suppliers around (see Links) but you can usually buy them at the Feisanna as well

Poodle Socks
These are about £3 per pair and you will probably need at least two pairs so that you can change them when your feet get sweaty (yuck!)

Dresses
You would expect to pay between £200 & £300 for a New School or Class dress. You may be able to get a good Second hand one for around £100 from someone who has grown and needs a new one!
SOLO dresses are rather more expensive! The minimum you could expect to pay is around £400 for an 'Off the Peg' dress and around £600 for a specially made design. These prices can rise to over £1000!!! Again it is lucky that you won't be needing this straight away, and can get away with a school dress in most cases anyway.
Second hand Solo dresses are available at most Feisanna but vary in price from £75 to as much as £475. You might see one you like!
NEW You can now buy professionally made dresses that are supplied in kit form. These offer the quality of a really expensive dress at a fraction of the cost. You will need to have it put together by someone though, so remember to add this in to the cost, unless you do it yourself of course! (see Celtic Image)
Don't forget that you will probably need a class dress as well for figure dancing teams, depends on the teacher.

Miscellaneous
Headbands etc. can cost between £1.00 & £10.00 each and you will probably amass a variety of types and colours as time goes by. You can make these yourself fairly cheaply as well.
As you progress you will probably move on to wearing Tiaras which can range up to £100
for a good one. (see Tiaras)
Curlers - MAGIC WANDS are about £5.00 for 40 (the best type of curler)
Don't forget Hairsprays, Setting Lotions etc. are all needed as well!
Tape for shoes (see hints & tips) - between £1.00 & £3.00

Feisanna
Spectators would normally pay £2.00/£2.50 per person, dancers are free.
Competition entries are usually £1.50/£2.00 each so you can expect to spend up to £20.00 with figure dances as well.
At most Feisanna you can buy a 'Family Entry' for up to three dancers from the same family. This is usually only slightly more than a Solo dancer would spend, and covers everything.
There is also the cost of travelling to the feis, and refreshments at the feis, to add on as well.

That's it for now, I'll add more as I spend more!!!!!!