Young girls enjoy a stretch limo ride to the school prom Photograph: Rex Features/ Newspix

LONDON — The Guardian reports that the UK’s prom season is “gearing up for its biggest year yet,” as prom has dramatically risen in popularity due to high-school TV  shows and movies such as Glee, Hannah Montana, and High School Musical. But “prom fever” in the UK isn’t just for high school students; it has become a major event to celebrate the end of primary school education as well.

“It's different from the American prom in that they tend to be aged around 18 or 19 for their prom, whereas our girls will be a bit younger, so dresses are less revealing,” said Linda Ellison of Prom Frock UK.

While this trend has not been very helpful to recession-hit families, it has been keeping many businesses afloat. The Guardian reports that last year the Holiday Inn saw a 5,000% increase in the number of proms being booked in its hotels. “It's a very vibrant part of the economy up here,” Ellison said.

Limousine services are also benefitting from the trend, especially since UK prom goers have not yet learned to coordinate. “They will all have them on the same date — they don’t think, so we could have rented out 50 cars for June and July if we’d had them,” said Daniel Roberts, owner of Star Limousines, which serves southeast England.

“There’s a lot [of kids] being disappointed and all the kids can’t get the cars they want,” Roberts added. “They all go for the same eight or 10 dates…and then they can’t get the bookings because we’re booked solid.

Read the complete story from The Guardian by clicking here.

— Michael Campos, LCT associate editor