How to… make a festival disability-friendly

The summer of 2015 saw Tyneside’s Chase Park return for its 5th birthday and receive the esteemed Gold level of Attitude is Everything’s Charter of Best Practice, one of only three festivals nationwide to receive the accolade for superb access.

Here’s how we keep our festival inclusive of everyone, regardless of ability. 

Have on-site trackways

Negotiating a muddy festival can be hard for even the most seasoned of festival goers, but we want music fans who attend our festival to be able to get around the site without any issues. One way we do this for our disabled guests is to have specially designed wheelchair trackways around the entire site so they can get around easily, even in bad weather – which happens a lot in the North East! Our specially designed Wheel Track System is the perfect trackway for wheelchair users and those who find uneven terrain difficult.

Use BSL translators

We don’t want our deaf guests to miss out on any of the action, so we have fully qualified BSL translators describe and translate not only the words of our performers but the vibe and atmosphere of the festival itself. We work with experienced British Sign Language interpreters to offer signed events for both adults and children, and the impact of incorporating sign language into live music performances is undeniable. It ensures that the meaning of the songs and the music reaches everyone equally. What is fascinating is the amount of forethought and craft that goes into preparing the signs for music, echoing the craft of music itself. The interpreters have to ensure that the meaning of the song is translated across, interpreting not just the words but the meanings and emotions behind them. Even the swearing!

Make sure you have amazing volunteers and stewards

We’d be nothing without our team of volunteers and stewards, they are the heart and soul of Chase Park. They understand what we’re all about and make a huge difference to the experience our disabled guests have. Volunteers support our access provision by staffing information points and constantly check the crowd to see if they may need assistance. They’re also very proactive and are always at hand to ask if any of our disabled guests need guidance. Many of our staff come with specific skills, such as British Sign Language, which makes a huge difference.

First class information is a must

Deaf and disabled people require easy access to information points which have the information they need in order to fully enjoy the event. Our information points are located near the centre of the site for ease of access, and we do all we can to make sure they’re unaffected by noise pollution from the main stages.

Our website also contains information about access, so festival goers know what to expect on the site and what provisions are in place. It also has information about drop off points, public transport and pictures of the site.

Accessible toilets & changing facilities make the difference

Accessible toilets can make or break a disabled person’s enjoyment of an event, so we make sure ours are clean, properly equipped, easy to find and easy to reach. A lack of accessible toilets can prevent disabled people from attending a festival, so we make sure we book our accessible toilets early and have the right number on site. Our toilets are strategically placed across Chase Park, and we make sure disabled music fans are always within 40m of a loo. We use loos which have hoists, plenty of space for support staff and ensure that people’s dignity can be maintained.

You need lower level access points for wheelchair users

We take the issue of access very seriously, in terms of being able to access the festival itself and being able to get to the bars and food vendors once people are inside. Lowering the level of the bar and providing menus in large lettering makes a big difference.

Where possible, we make use of existing accessible routes in Chase Park and also have temporary tracks for ease of access. We provide separate, dedicated routes for disabled people and, in an emergency situation, we have provisions in place to make sure they have safe exit routes. A really simple thing we also do is to make sure there’s enough space between stalls for wheelchair users. It may sound like a no-brainer, but lots of festivals forget to do this.

Alistair McDonald is Festival Organiser for Chase Park.
www.keirogroup.co.uk/chase-park-festival
Tw @chaseparkfest

The next event is set to take place in August 2016.