For many disabled people, attending live music events is an enriching and joyous experience. However, navigating these spaces as someone who needs to take certain items into a venue or festival can present challenges.
For us at Attitude is Everything to better understand these challenges and work towards improving accessibility in the live music and events industry, we have launched a survey aimed at capturing the experiences of disabled people who attend music venues and festivals, whilst managing their access requirements by taking in essential items. These may be food and/or drink, medical equipment or medication.
The government’s Disability Unit’s UK Disability Survey in 2021 revealed that 1 in 3 disabled people struggle to access public spaces, often leading to isolation and loneliness— this can often be due to persistent access barriers set up in public spaces.
Whether this has been an issue with security checks, or a lack of appropriate accommodations, we want to hear directly from those who have faced this barrier.
By collecting this data, we aim to raise awareness around access barriers that otherwise may be overlooked and delve deeper into the nuances of disabled people’s lived experiences.
This survey has now closed, and we’re hoping to release more information on the findings in the next coming months.