Accessibility at Festivals: Views from the Ground
Over the last decade, festival accessibility provision has seen a shift from doing the bare minimum to meet the requirements of legislation, to being more focused on experience-led inclusivity. It’s become an expectation that festivals will have given proper thought to how transport, on-site support and (perhaps most importantly) participation in the festival can be more reliably available to people with disabilities. This change in framing — that access is important to audience experience, the reputation of the festival and a factor in which festivals people chose to attend — has meant that festivals have looked to significantly up their game.
This can be seen in improvements in physical accessibility — dedicated campsites and parking, more accessible toilets and showers, and more and better designed viewing platforms. Beyond the physical, there’s also been an increase in quiet / sensory spaces, provision of sign-language interpretation, and training staff on how to work with those with non-visible disabilities.
However, as you’d expect, this change isn’t universal — there are many festivals who still look at accessibility as an afterthought, who think it’s good enough to just make it possible for people to get around site. There are also still large gaps between what is said, and what is being actually done on the ground.
We chatted to Badman Sam (festival access user / access volunteer / dedicated raver) and John (no access requirements / access volunteer / old head) about their experience with accessibility at festivals.
Sam: For me, the key to good access provision is that the festival is fully bought into the social model of disability — understanding that people are not disabled by their impairments, but by the barriers they encounter in society. This means addressing physical needs like dedicated camping with accessible facilities which are close to the action, and also thinking about how the access user is treated — things like teams that are quick to respond to queries and issues, having flexible policies, volunteers and staff that are happy to just make things work and solve problems, on-the-ground support — and above all, an attitude that access is a priority and not just an afterthought.
John: A lot of the success in delivering access support to users comes down to the attitude of the teams — and this is definitely a mix of personality, training and experience. I’ve been working on access roles for about 10 years, and I don’t mind admitting that I was pretty naive about working with disabled people starting out (and still am). Even though a lot of what I did came from a good place, it wasn’t always as effective or supportive as it should have been. For me, that training and experience have really made the difference in terms of my ability to support people having the best time they can at festivals. Working on festival access teams is great for lots of reasons — they tend to be smaller teams, so you get to know people a bit better (it’s how I met Sam), you tend to meet like-minded people who enjoy festivals and also enjoy supporting others to enjoy them. The roles also tend to be more varied and interesting — whether it’s working on a viewing platform, helping people get to and from the campsite, or fixing problems as they come up.
Sam: Even with the general improvement in access at festivals, there are still some common failings that would be relatively easy to address — broader training of staff (stage crews, volunteers, security) beyond the access team on how they can interact better with disabled people, having access platforms more ‘in the action’ so users can be part of the crowd rather than tucked away at the back and, bluntly, more resources. Also, making it easier for specific needs to be accounted for — the use of the Nimbus Access Card system to streamline access applications is good, but a large number of people find themselves falling outside of the simplified categories that this uses. For me, having a +1 Personal Assistant (PA) is not enough, I need at least 2 PAs to support me at a festival.
John: Resources are often the challenge — whether it’s enough staff or volunteers, money and materials for more viewing platforms, accessible toilets, ramps and trackways. We all know that festivals are being squeezed from all directions financially and, unfortunately, access provision can come quite low down the list unless it’s a specific thing that the festival prides itself on.
Sam: What is quite often missed is provision for how the site will change — if it rains, for example. There may be a load of woodchip on standby, but this doesn’t address how much harder it makes getting around for someone with limited mobility or a wheelchair. All of this can often have an impact on the staff and volunteers as well — the work can be quite psychologically and emotionally challenging, and this burden can increase when you’re dealing with customers who aren’t having a good time because of poor access provision. Even more so if you’re not having a good time yourself!
John: This is a good point. One of the more challenging aspects of the job is that you just can’t make everything work for everyone all the time — and this would be the case even if you had all the resources — and you often have to support people who are frustrated or struggling with regulating because of this. Festivals get muddy when it rains, and hot when the sun shines (often in the same day), shuttle buses get delayed because the roads are slow or full because everyone wants to use them at the same time, it’s often loud, crowded and chaotic. However, when it’s good, it’s great — most people understand that you’re just a volunteer, that you’re at the festival because you want to have fun as well, and they’re patient and forgiving when things don’t go to plan. And not wanting to sound too worthy, but there’s a great deal of satisfaction to be gained when someone is having a great weekend because of the support that you’ve been able to give.
Sam: I think reasonable expectations apply to disabled people working on access teams as well. There are jobs, like driving a buggy in my case, or working on a crowded platform for someone with sensory processing difficulties, that just aren’t going to be suitable. Fortunately, you’re in a team that understands this and hopefully can accept and make allowances for what is doable. The shifts are also pretty long — typically eight hours for volunteers — which can also present challenges. Eight-hour volunteer shifts in festival conditions can be demanding even for non-disabled staff, especially with heat, noise, mixed weather conditions, crowds, constant social interaction, and the cognitive load of helping attendees. Long access shifts can become an endurance issue rather than a capability issue.
John: I think overall, it’s definitely better (and often actually good), but there’s still some way to go if festivals want to genuinely be accessible to everyone. It’s great that Sam and I can get into the same venues to enjoy the dance together or just hang out without it being too much of a mission. What I’d really like to see is that this isn’t the exception but the rule, that accessibility support is reliable enough that we won’t have that underlying anxiety that something will stop us having fun.