Although music festivals are aimed at a general audience, people with disabilities (PwD) often cannot enjoy concerts as much as other audiences without disabilities. Imagine missing your favourite band because:

There are no chairs, so you can’t sit down during the show. You’re worried about not being able to go to the toilet because they might not be accessible. You’re sick of sitting at the back, missing everything. You’re too nervous because there’s no disability access information. There are some steps that could easily be ramped, but probably won’t be. You can’t queue standing up for ages. You can’t bring in the things you need for your health condition. The festival site will get all muddy when it rains – no chance for you and your wheelchair. You are blind, but there is no one to help you navigate the unfamiliar festival site. Welcome to the world of people with disabilities. 

People with disabilities (PwD) – who exactly are they? Anyone who has an impairment, health condition or difference that impacts their daily lives and which has lasted or will last for 12 months or more.

This could include:

• People who use wheelchairs
• People with mobility impairments
• People with vision impairments
• People with hearing impairments
• Deaf people who use Sign Language
• People with learning disabilities
• People who are neurodivergent
• People with mental health conditions
• People with physical health conditions
• People with progressive conditions (including HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis)
• People with invisible impairments or health conditions

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), globally, one in six people can be considered as having a disability; other estimates go as high as 1 in 4 in certain countries. That means any promoter, creator, employer or business failing to reach people with disabilities is missing out on at least 16% of potential audiences and 16% of potential artist and employee talent. Not welcoming everyone means you are missing out. 

Our priority as a festival promoter is to make the festival a friendly and safer place for everyone, so our visitors can make lasting, positive memories. We can introduce a number of measures aimed at people with various disabilities, to make their festival visit as uncomplicated and enjoyable as possible.

A brief checklist to create more accessibility:

1. Online access info: Have all accessibility information on your website. Make sure it’s easy to find and understand (also for people with an intellectual disability).
2. Maps: Mark accessibility information on your festival map, e.g., where to find accessible toilets or relaxation areas. 
3. Service line: Run a service hotline before and during the festival where PwD can easily get answers to questions about accessibility. 
4. Ticketing: Offer special tickets allowing people with disabilities to bring a supporting person. Ideally, the supporting person can come for free.
5. Priority Service Point: Create a service point specifically for people with special needs, where they can exchange their tickets for festival passes, receive support and get all necessary practical information.
6. Entrance: Create a preferential access line for PwD and build wide festival gates.
7. Venues: Make sure all venues and stages are accessible for everyone, e.g. by installing ramps or lifts. Communicate, if you can’t make venues or stages universally accessible.
8. On-site transport: For people with reduced mobility, offer local transportation from the entrance gate to the Priority Service Point. If you have a large festival site, consider offering an on-site transport service as well.
9. Parking: Offer dedicated parking spaces for PwD close to the entrances and exits. 
10. “Kiss and Ride” option: Offer a place where PwD can be dropped off directly at the entrance to the festival area.
11. Public Transportation: Post local accessible routes and schedules of public transportation.
12. Surfaces: Make sure to have wide, even, hardened, slip-resistant surfaces on your festival site that lead to all areas of the event. 
13. Raised platforms: Offer raised platforms with ramps and chairs close to the stages for PwD and their accompanying persons. Make sure they have everything they need and a clear view of the stage. Consider opening the platforms up also to their friends without disabilities, so they can celebrate together.
14. Equipment: Consider loaning out equipment like wheelchairs, crutches or hearing protection.
15. Staff: Train your staff (e.g. bars, access, security) and volunteers on accessibility and how to treat people with disabilities. 
16. Assistants: Train volunteers before the festival to support people with various kinds of disabilities during your festival, or connect to organizations that can provide trained staff.
17. Ramps: Provide ramps at stairs and on the curves and elevations of the terrain.
18. Induction loop: Offer induction loops for people with hearing impairments (on/near the raised platforms in the vicinity of all stages as well as at the Priority Service Point).
19. Accessible toilets: Equip your sanitary facilities with enough accessible toilets. Have at least one accessible toilet in every toilet area. Ideally, there is an accessible toilet near every raised platform, too.
20. Sign Language interpreter: Employ Sign Language interpreters to convey concerts to people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment.
21. Audio description: Offer audio description and operate a festival radio operating e.g. 15 minutes before the concerts and just after them.
22. Signs: Provide high-contrast signs in high and low positions, and make sure signs use sans serif fonts that are readable in all light conditions.
23. Bars/food court: Make your bars and food court accessible, e.g., by having low counters.
24. Relaxation zones: Create quiet zones where PwD can lie down and rest, recharge their electric equipment, take their medication etc. Offer some kind of shelter from rain/sun/wind.
25. Gather feedback: Get in touch with your visitors with disabilities to find out if your accessibility measures work and where you need to improve.

Read our interview with Life on Wheelz for more ideas on accessibility.

Before the festival begins

Promotion and information about the festival must be easily accessible to people with disabilities. If these people don’t find out about the festival and can’t prepare for it, they will not participate in it. The scope and type of amenities provided is key information for this group of fans.

Information about adapting the festival

In your materials about the festival, include information about:

• how to get to the festival and the accessibility of transport for PwD,
• adaptation of infrastructure: in particular platforms near stages or dedicated toilets
• opportunities to obtain support from employees and volunteers
• solutions enabling people with various disabilities to participate in concerts (e.g. people with physical disabilities, people who are blind or deaf).

Provide accurate information about the type of accessibility. Don’t promise anything you can’t deliver. Inform about obstacles that cannot be removed. People with disabilities will decide for themselves whether they want to take part in a specific concert, based on reliable information.

In information and promotional materials, include information on the accessibility of individual events (concerts, workshops, discussions, etc.). Remember to include information on the type of solutions that can be used during a given event (audio description, induction loop, sign language translation, platform for wheelchair users, etc.). Create a separate tab for people with disabilities on the festival website and in the festival app, where all the most important information will be collected in one place. Information on accessibility should be included in all communication channels used to promote the festival.

Accessibility of communication channels

Promotion of the festival should use various media such as the website, social media, online forums, printed materials, advertisements in the press, radio and television, and cooperation with PwD influencers. The festival website should be digitally accessible and compliant with, for example, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 website accessibility standard, at least at level AA (read more here and here).

Tickets

Provide detailed information about the rules for purchasing or booking tickets and about possible discounts. Provide necessary information about:

• rules for purchasing tickets for people with disabilities
• rules for purchasing tickets for accompanying persons

Electronic booking or ticket purchasing systems may not be available to some people, so alternative booking methods are needed, e.g. by telephone or email. If you introduce discounts for people with disabilities, you must specify how eligibility for the discount will be checked (e.g. ID cards, disability certificates). Check whether the ticketing agency has a system accessible to PwD.

Reporting special needs

Make it possible for participants with disabilities to report special needs, e.g., a special toilet, audio description, translation into Sign Language. Special needs can be reported, e.g., via a special form, which should be placed on the festival website. Reporting should also be possible via other channels, e.g., by telephone or email. Information about the number of people wanting to use given solutions will make it easier to organize the event and provide the appropriate number of necessary equipment.

When publishing materials on the website and social media, you should ensure:

1. Appropriate contrast of text and graphic elements: elements with low contrast may be unreadable for many people, and on a sunny day they may also be difficult to read on a phone (you can check the contrast levels, e.g., here)
2. Alternative text for photos and graphics: this is a concise description of what is in the graphic. Such information is read by programmes used by people with visual disabilities (screen readers)
3. Audio description for audiovisual materials: if creating audio description is not possible or is insufficient, place a description of the content next to the visual material (so-called description)
4. Captions for multimedia materials
5. Translation into Sign Language of all important organizational info
6. Information for deaf people
7. Materials in easy-to-read and understand text (ETR): prepare at least the most important information about the festival in this form.

Travel

Public transport

It is worth ensuring the possibility of access to the festival area by public transport adapted to the needs of PwD In consultation with the city or commune, you can, for example, launch a festival bus, tram and metro lines. The website should includhee information about routes, timetables and bus accessibility for PwD. PwD will often need low-floor vehicles. If not all vehicles are properly adapted, indicate in the timetable which connections can be used by people with disabilities. 

Cars for transporting PwD can also be provided, running between important places in the town and the entrance to the festival. Such a service may be made available, e.g., at the request of festival participants. The festival regulations need to include rules on the use of such transport. Cars for transporting PwD must be equipped with a ramp or lift and appropriate space for people in wheelchairs.

Information about access to the festival

Prepare information about admission to the festival and publish it on the festival website. Clearly mark the route from public transport stops or parking lots to the registration area. If PwD use a different route (e.g., through a privileged entrance), it is important to clearly mark this entrance and the road leading to it. Provide support from volunteers or security services on the route leading to the festival. 

Access by car

Provide special parking spaces for PwD disabilities. Label them legibly. If possible, place these spaces closest to the entrance to the festival area. The dimensions of places for PwD should be:

• perpendicular parking: min. 360 x 500 cm
• parallel parking: min. 360 x 600 cm

Provide a “Kiss & Ride” zone near the entrance to the festival area, allowing a car or bus to stop and quickly drop off festival participants. If you are afraid of too much car traffic, limit the use of the “Kiss & Ride” zone only to PwD.

Transport communication

Information about admission to the festival should be published both in the festival app and on the event website. Clearly mark the route from public transport stops or parking lots to the registration area. If PwD use a different route (e.g., through a privileged entrance), clearly mark this entrance and the road leading to it. The possible support of volunteers or security services on the route leading to the festival is also important – these people will show the way and inform about the location of individual areas. 

Infrastructure

Movement free from obstacles

When planning a festival, you need to plan which roads participants will use. It is worth ensuring at least one route accessible to everyone and free from obstacles to each place at the festival (e.g., ticket exchange point for wristbands, stage, food, toilets). Designated obstacle-free routes should follow the shortest possible routes. When designing an obstacle-free route, remember to ensure an even and hardened surface. Sand, grass, gravel and even uneven granite blocks can make movement difficult or impossible for a person in a wheelchair. If the existing infrastructure does not allow for proper planning of roads, you can purchase or rent foldable surfaces made of rubber or plastic for the needs of the festival.

Remember: 

1. Avoid changes in levels and faults. Route electrical cables and other installations so that they do not cross a route free from obstacles, and if this is not possible, cover them with special covers.
2. Ensure that the road is wide enough to enable wheelchair users to move freely, turn around and pass other people
3. The terrain slope should not exceed 6%, and if this is not possible, construct a ramp in accordance with applicable regulations.

Registration

Provide a priority service point in the registration area to serve PwD and other privileged participants, e.g., pregnant women or people with small children. Place a service point in the registration area at the main entrance to the festival. If there are several entrances to the festival, plan priority service points at each entrance. Mark the priority service point with the symbol of PwD, pregnant women, parents with children, etc., depending on the groups of people who can use this point. The marking should be legible and clearly visible from a long distance.

It is important that the priority service point is:

• located on a route free from obstacles and that there is an accessible toilet nearby
• equipped with tables with a top no higher than 90 cm and with free space under the top allowing a person in a wheelchair to fit their knees,
• equipped with chairs for the person being served and those waiting in line.

Toilets

Accessible toilets must be located along a route free from obstacles. Also, they should be located near platforms and in key locations of the festival. Their location should be clearly marked, including those intended for PwD. Information on this subject should be placed on area markings, in the guide, on festival maps, on the website and in the festival app. Volunteers and security services should know where accessible toilets are located. 

Each sanitary facility must provide at least one toilet for people with disabilities. Festival participants, volunteers and staff without disabilities should be informed not to use accessible toilets. Toilet containers or toilets located inside buildings are the most convenient. 

There should be a washbasin in accessible toilets. Only in the case of portable toilets, the washbasin may be located right next to the toilet. People using wheelchairs are unable to use solutions that involve activating the water stream by pressing a pedal with their foot. In accessible toilets, another solution must be provided, e.g., motion sensors. 

Each accessible toilet should be marked with a number, and a contact phone number must be visible on the inside. This way, festival participants will be able to easily notify someone about a defect or when they need help. The cleanliness of toilets must be checked regularly. 

Camping

If a camp site is available at the festival, it should also be adapted to the needs of PwD. A person using a manual (active) wheelchair will be able to use a campsite if basic amenities are provided. A shower adapted to the needs of people with disabilities should be large and equipped with handrails and a seat. At the campsite, near the area for PwD, provide an electrical socket to charge the batteries of electric wheelchairs.

Audience and stage

At each stage, it is worth providing a platform for viewers with disabilities, which enables them to comfortably and safely watch the performances. Some people, due to their height or being in a wheelchair, may not be able to see the stage above the heads of the crowd surrounding them. For some people, being in crowds can even be dangerous.

When making the platform, remember that:

• the platform should be located on a route free from obstacles
• it must be accessible via ramps and stairs,
• you need designated places for people using wheelchairs, with dimensions of min. 80 x 120 cm (approximately 1 m² per person),
• next to the seat for a person in a wheelchair, there should be a seat for an accompanying person
• you must ensure good visibility for people using wheelchairs, seated people and people of short stature (e.g., make sure that handrails do not block the view of the stage)
• there needs to be space provided for people with an assistance dog
• if possible, there should be a power socket to recharge electric wheelchairs.
• PwD might also want to celebrate with their friends who don’t have disabilities. Consider making the platform big enough, so they can all celebrate together.

Volunteers or security staff should be present at the entrance to the platform to control, among other things, the number of people staying there. It is also worth ensuring accessibility to the stage for PwD. This may be important if you have artists with disabilities, or if someone from the audience is invited to the stage during performances.

Food court

Food points and food trucks should be located along a route free from obstacles. Their countertops should be no higher than 90 cm – if this is not possible at every point, it is worth ensuring partial accessibility. If this is not possible, it is worth asking the operators of the points to provide meals and drinks to PwD and any other person for whom a high countertop may be an inconvenience. 

It is also worth making sure that you can eat while sitting down. This is important, for example, for people using wheelchairs or crutches. Tables should be placed on an even and hardened surface.

Accessible concerts

When organizing an accessible festival, you do not have to immediately enable participation in all concerts and accompanying events. You can start with one or several concerts, one stage, selected workshops or debates. Introduce accessibility gradually but systematically. This is a process that brings the best results when it is well-prepared and professionally implemented. 

If you want to host an accessible concert, please provide:

• an area for viewers with disabilities. Sset up a raised platform in this zone.
• an induction loop. It will help people with hearing aids and cochlear implants to listen to the concert. Place such a loop around the area for viewers with disabilities.
• live signing. Ideally, you provide a Sign Language interpreter during the festival – e.g. located right next to the stage – who will allow deaf people to follow the concert. Important issues here include obtaining the consent of the artists, the skills and experience of the signers, the appropriate development of the stage conditions, which translates into the entire logistics and security of this zone, including financial outlays. Display captions on a large screen or on tablet screens. Determine before the event and communicate to participants how this service will be delivered.
• audio description. This is an extra audio track providing information about the visual layer of the concert, e.g., the stage decoration and the behaviour of the musicians. Inform before the event how and on which devices people can listen to the audio description. The devices can be distributed at the entrance to the concert or near the area for persons with disabilities.

Information during the festival

Remember to create a visual information system for the festival:

• directional information showing the way to the most important places
• festival maps available in paper form, in the app, on the festival website, as well as in selected places on boards located on the festival site
• mark zones such as entrances, toilets, stages
• mark evacuation routes

Signs

Signs should be in a large, easy to read font with good colour contrast – for example, a black sans serif font on a white background. Clear signs at drop-off zones and parking areas will help direct people to specific areas across the event site. Signs should indicate the accessibility features located along the path of travel and event areas. Signs at different heights can also help assist people moving through crowds, and help them see when they are at specific locations.

Sans serif fonts include:

• Arial 
• Century Gothic 
• Verdana 
• Univers

Mark the roads that people with disabilities should use. You can opt out of such markings when the roads are the same for people with and without disabilities. Also, mark all places intended for people with disabilities, such as the priority service point, platforms at the stages, accessible toilets.

It is important that the information is legible. Ensure:

• high contrast of text and symbols in relation to the background
• you adjust the size of signs to the distance from which they should be visible. Remember that some people have poorer vision and may need larger signs
• legible fonts
• where possible, the use of both symbols and text

Remember that not all people are able to read visual information, so provide alternative solutions, e.g., information provided verbally by volunteers and security services.

Volunteers, employees, security services – and procedures

Train your staff and volunteers on:

• how to communicate with people with different types of disabilities

• your accessibility features

• your evacuation procedures for people with disabilities

• how to give feedback to festival organizers about the event’s accessibility

Use considerate language when talking about disabilities. For example, use “people with disabilities” instead of “disabled people” or “the disabled.” Prepare volunteers, employees and security services to support people with disabilities. Before the event, conduct a briefing and training where you remind of the most important rules regarding the service for people with disabilities. 

Rain, wind, sun, shelters

Prolonged exposure to rain, wind and sometimes sun can be an unpleasant experience. Some people with disabilities are at particular risk from the elements. When planning your festival, consider providing open- or closed-sided tents to provide weather protection. 

Evacuation

When planning a festival, prepare evacuation routes and emergency procedures. This is the only way to ensure safety in unexpected situations. Evacuation routes must be accessible to people with disabilities. Information indicating these routes should be legible and visible from a long distance. People entering the event area should receive information about evacuation routes and emergency exits from the festival.

Ask for Feedback 

Find out how successful your accessibility features are by asking for feedback. At the festival: get feedback from festival goers. Make sure you have more than one way to collect feedback and let people know what you plan to do with the feedback you receive. If you already have a feedback form, add questions about accessibility. When organizing a festival, remember that people with disabilities have different needs and sensitivities. 

Remember a few rules:

1. disability is only one of many human characteristics and does not define PwD. Every person with disabilities has their passions, desires, dreams, interests, family, friends, job, problems and joys, just like any other person. Among them there are people who are in love or lonely, athletes and coaches, students and professors, blue-collar and white-collar workers, shy and feisty, young and old, tall and short, brunettes and blondes, people who like dogs or cats, and so on.
2. If you want to help a person with disabilities, always ask if they want help first and how you can help, to show them respect and to not hurt them or damage their equipment. When helping, always allow the person to have 100% control over what is happening.
3. Always address the person with a disability directly, not their accompanying person.
4. Use words and phrases that function in everyday contacts. Don’t be afraid to say “goodbye” or “see you” to a blind person and “speak soon” to a deaf person.
5. Every disability is different, so each person with a disability should be treated individually.

Communication & Things to Watch out for

Communicating with people who are blind or visually impaired

Information must be provided precisely to a blind person. Avoid phrases like “here” and “there.” To facilitate orientation, you can use phrases like “on the left” and “straight ahead.” You can also refer to the description from the clock face (e.g., “at three o’clock”). If you see a person who is blind and want to help, do not surprise him/her or grab them without warning. Walk up to them, offer to help, offer your arm, and walk half a step ahead. Do not pet or distract the guide dog – the dog is at work. Many visually impaired people can cope without a cane or a guide dog. Help when they ask for help.

Communicating with people who are deaf or hard of hearing 

Many people who are deaf or hard of hearing love music and go to concerts. When you talk to them, look at them and not at the interpreter, maintain eye contact, speak clearly – some people read words by lip movement. Also remember not to shout or articulate your words excessively. Such behaviours are unnatural and make speech difficult to understand.

Communicating with people with reduced mobility

A wheelchair, crutch or cane is the personal sphere of a person with a disability. Don’t touch them without the owner’s permission. Do not hang a jacket, bag or anything else on the wheelchair. Many people will consider this a violation of their privacy. Standing is difficult for people on crutches, so they should be serviced at a special point equipped with a chair.

If you want to say hello to a person who has had an amputated arm or hand, go ahead and shake their other hand – you don’t have to be afraid of it. Many people in wheelchairs can often stand or walk short distances, so don’t rush in to help without their express request. Do not talk down to a person in a wheelchair. Take two steps back or sit down – you will be able to see each other better, and it will be easier to talk.

People with invisible disabilities

Not all disabilities are visible to outsiders. This applies to people with intellectual disabilities, speech impairments, people on the autism spectrum, people in a mental health crisis or with diseases that are invisible to the eye. Be patient and listen carefully. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and if you don’t understand something, feel free to ask for it to be repeated or to write it down on paper, if possible. 

Some people will need, for example, seats, help in finding a toilet and a place to take medicine (a medical tent can serve for this). Treat a person with a disability normally. Don’t feel sorry, but don’t treat them like a hero either. If a person with a disability makes unreasonable demands, do not be afraid to refuse.

People in need of medicine (e.g. diabetes)

Persons whose health condition requires taking specific medicine, should be able to bring their medicine, medical accessories to serve the medicine, and food and drinks; however, it is required to present a medical certificate about the necessity of having the medicine with you. Please store the food and drinks in compliance with safety regulations contained in the Terms and Conditions of the festival (e.g., cans, glass bottles and vacuum flasks). Persons with diabetes are encouraged to bring special sachets with liquid glucose available in every pharmacy.

Tips for Booking artists with disabilities

• Use venues that provide step-free access to the stage, or offer a step-free setup in the venue. 
• Book diverse bands to involve diverse people. 
• Allow sufficient time for sound checks. Be prepared for questions and different ways of communicating. 
• Invite bands to discuss any access requirements and, with their permission, make sure relevant venue staff know about them.
• Provide an access statement on your website letting people know what they can expect at the show.