A fantastic new initiative is being run by non-profit Accessible Festivals, that will provide free tickets for recreational experiences like gigs and festivals for disabled music fans and their companions.
This U.S. scheme, the Dan Grover Memorial Ticket Grant Program, is partnering with all kinds of venues and festivals, like Austin City Limits, Coachella, Stagecoach and Electric Daisy Carnival to provide the tickets.
Accessible Festivals was founded by Austin Whitney, who himself was disabled following a 2007 car crash, that severed his spinal cord and left him paralysed from the waist down. Frustration and depression followed, until he was able, eight months later, to get to the Coachella music festival.
The organisations press release says, "For the first time since his spinal cord injury, he was able to smile and simply enjoy his life. Music festivals like this one got him through the most difficult challenges of his life. With the realisation of the importance of festival accessibility, he decided to devote his life to ensuring people of all abilities can have an equal opportunity to experience live music and recreational activities to the fullest possible extent."
The scheme is named after Dan Grover, who was one of the first Accessibility Consultants in the live music industry. He led numerous ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance operations for large scale events like Electric Forest and Outside Lands, meaning that thousands of disabled guests could enjoy the music.
Any individual with a disability, temporary of lifelong, can apply for the free tickets to an event. Anyone in the U.S. can visit the Accessible Festivals website here - for more info.
What about the UK?
Sadly, disabled access to gigs in the UK is not without its issues.
Robin Millar, who is Chair of the Blue Raincoat Chrysalis Group (music management and record label) and of Scope UK (disability equality campaigning charity), has called on Glastonbury Festival to take action following the deeds and words of Noel Gallagher at this years event.
Noel Gallagher used his AAA (access all areas) pass to get himself and some friends onto the disability viewing platform by the John Peel Stage, to watch the Jamie T performance. He later claimed on a podcast appearance, that they "didn't take over" the platform and that they didn't realise what the area was for. That didn't stop him from making a joke about tipping someone out of a wheelchair to get his son a better view! He said, "these disabled cats have a great view of everything."
Millar has written an open letter to the Eavis family and Glastonbury organisers, to find out what action they plan to take about this episode. Towards the end of the letter, he asks,
"But has my industry lost its way when even the torch bearer for equality and kindness, Glastonbury Festival, has remained silent? He then highlights another unsavoury part of the incident, "To cap it all, he [Gallagher] then appeared to anoint several people in the area on the top of the head, asking them to rise up as they were cured."
This probably wouldn't be shocking to Suzanne Bull MBE, who is CEO of Attitude Is Everything, a non-profit group dedicated to improve access for deaf and disabled people to live music, by working with venues and artists. Speaking about barriers, she said, "I had to prove that disabled audiences wanted to go to see live music and that it was a growing market and one with loyalty.... Knowing that the music industry is very commercial, we made a compelling business case. Yes, of course, there's the moral argument and the legal argument, you have to use those cases as well, but really it was the commercial impact."
Comments