London's British Summer Time festival improves accessibility for 2018 shows
In 2013, BST was the first UK festival to win the Silver Level of Charter of Best Practice in its first year, awarded by accessibility charity Attitude is Everything
Entertainment company AEG Presents has joined forces with accessibility charity Attitude is Everything (AiE) to improve ticketing access for deaf and disabled audiences at festivals this summer.
British Summer Time in Hyde Park – which this year is headlined by The Cure, Roger Waters, Paul Simon and others – has made changes to the event this year to improve accessibility.
A more efficient booking system, improvements to the operation of viewing platforms and an improved focus on British Sign Language (BSL) provision are all initiatives that BST has boosted this year.
AEG Presents is a founding member of the new Ticketing Without Barriers coalition launched by AiE in April. In 2013, BST was the first UK festival to win the Silver Level of Charter of Best Practice in its first year, award by AiE.
Festival director Jim King said: “We are proud to be the first UK event to receive the Silver Level of the Charter in their first year, and we further this progress by announcing that we are a founding member of the new Ticketing Without Barriers with Attitude is Everything. We hope to continue to make events inclusive to everyone.”
As of 2018, ticket holders have the opportunity to provide their evidence of disability in advance. The advantages of this are that people will not need to bring their private documents with them on the day and it will also enable the festival to build a database of accepted evidence so that they don’t need to resubmit in future years.
Following customer feedback, the Barclaycard Stage Viewing Platform is now in an improved location and has an improved access route as well as better access to nearby accessible toilets. Roving vendors for drinks service on Main Stage viewing platform will continue after last year’s trialled success.
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Source: mi-pro.co.uk
