What disability provisions can I reasonably expect a music festival?

ouch_it_hurts

There is a music festival I’ve been going to for a couple of years that I absolutely love, except my medical conditions have been getting worse, they are harder to manage day today, and the disability facilities at the festival have worsened also. So much so that last year I had to make a complaint because I missed most of the festival, trying to manage my conditions back at the tent, that there was not much point in me going at all. They’d overbooked the disabled campsite, their accessibility staff were confused and told us to set up somewhere they later came and told us was a walkway, and we needed to move, but there was no other space in the accessible campsite, and by the time we need to move the rest of the general campsite had filled up, so the only space left was right at the back of the second camping field, up a large hill and away from any of the facilities, disabled or general. I was made extra ill for quite a long time afterwards from trying and failing to traipse up and down a hill in the sun, with mobility issues, to manage conditions that affect my ability to go to the toilet, etc. I wrote a long complaint detailing all the problems with the organisation of the disability arrangements, the lacking facilities, how this affected me, and I asked for my money back. I was responded to by the festival organiser themselves. They seem to acknowledge that the difficulty I experience was to the level there was really not much point me being at the festival and gave me a full refund, however, the way they spoke about the details of the problems sounded like they were trying to absolve themselves of responsibility. To be honest, I found it quite inconsiderate and offensive. I was told that they had never had any complaints before, I don’t know if that’s true, but there was certainly widespread difficulty amongst disabled attendees at the festival, and even acknowledgement from the accessibility staff at the provisions were a mess. It was very overwhelming to write the complaint, but I can get quite set on the justice of things, and so I persevered to put in this complaint, but I can imagine many other people would be too exhausted to be able to begin writing such a thing. I don’t think the quantity of negative feedback should matter if they are being told and described personal experience that their disability provisions are not up to standard. If I was affected, many other disabled people with similar problems will be similarly affected. I was told in the response that funding was an issue, however, they seem to be able to afford bigger and bigger artist each year. That’s nice and all, but as meeting reasonable disability provisions is a legal requirement under equality law, I think they could re-distribute some of the budget to ensure that disabled festival goers can maintain a basic level of decency and functionality, and not be made extra ill by attending. I was told “thanks for the feedback, we’ll take into consideration for future events”

So this year I bought my ticket and put in my accessibility needs, including that I need access to somewhere private, with water. Like a shower or a toilet with a tap/ any basic kind of running water. This is not the limit of my issues, but access to water in this way it’s really not anything I can obtain without support from the festival. I’ve been sent a response saying that they can’t afford more than one disabled (and free) shower, and to try and use it after 11 am when it’s not as busy. I don’t think they understand that I’m not just talking about needing to shower myself, and I can’t control when I will need access to running water. I need to apply things, washed hands and wash medical equipment. It can become unexpectedly messy. I’ll make do as much as I can with wipes, but there will be points I need some access to running water and privacy in the same facility. I have seen disabled portaloos with little sinks in them before. I’m sure there are ones that you can connect up to a simple outdoor tap, or a portable water source. Even if the festival just had one of these, I would be able to function, and I’m sure the same would be from many of the disabled people attending. It’s at the point where if I can’t access this, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to go. But I’m not convinced this is reasonable and I think this is something the festival should be able to cater to, without treating me like I’m selfish for expecting something that should be there standardly for anyone who needs it. I don’t think my disability is at the level where is reasonable for me to not expect to be able to go to events such as this- I think this is exactly the kind of situation where the obligation to make reasonable adjustment exists, and I feel like this is discriminatory.

This is a festival has a capacity of 15000. They book some pretty damn big names in specific genres & have five stages. Two years ago, they had more than one disabled shower and more disabled toilets than last year, yet have booked significantly bigger artists consecutively each year from then. Is it unreasonable for me to expect them to give this kind of provision?

Rosie_Scope

Hi @ouch_it_hurts, sorry to hear you've faced this. It really shouldn't be so difficult to get the things you need and attend experiences that anyone without a disability wouldn't think twice about.

One shower facility shared among all the disabled festival-goers doesn't sound very reasonable to me, but I'm afraid that's just my personal opinion and I'm not too sure whether it would legally count as discriminatory. You could perhaps speak to the Equality Advisory Service to see if they can let you know what the festival organisers should be offering:

Contact Us - Equality Advisory and Support Service

Have they basically said there's no access to a private toilet or area with running water other than the shower?

If they have a medical tent or medical service of some kind, would they perhaps have anywhere private with water that you could be given access to if they can't offer a toilet with a tap?

Access is Everything is a charity that works with companies and events venues to make live music more accessible. I don't think they are able to give direct advice, but they have a reporting system if you feel you'd like to share your experience:

Report an issue to us - Attitude is Everything

Sorry that I can't be more helpful, but I hope some of our members might be able to offer some advice and experiences too. Hope you can find a solution that means you can still go, it's awful to be missing out over something that the organisers haven't properly thought through.

shirleys1961

I am sorry you experienced this. It is not unusual for this to happen, I now cannot go to any concerts ect. because of similar health problems. There is supposed to be adequate provisions for disabled people in this country however this is not always true. I hope you get better treatment at your next visit, however with the state this country is in I would be shocked if you were given the support you require.