Out and about

Outdoor arts festivals are about the whole community coming together, yet for Deaf and disabled people, they can seem out of bounds. The Independent Street Arts Network (ISAN) has been considering what organisers can do to improve access for Deaf and disabled audiences and artists. Disability-led arts organisation Attitude is Everything audited four events: Paradise Garden in London, Winchester Hat Fair, Stockton International Riverside Festival and St Paul’s Carnival, Bristol. The result is a practical toolkit that highlights what organisers can do to overcome the problems encountered by Deaf and disabled visitors, and how they can attract them as audience members.

Improving access need not break the budget. Organisers at the audited events have introduced inexpensive measures, such as making best use of volunteers – especially those with skills such as British Sign Language – as well as training production staff to plan an accessible site. The key is to include access in the overall festival budget, rather than adding it on at a later stage. Promoting the event’s accessibility and working with local disability groups are undoubtedly important, but the best way to increase Deaf and disabled audiences is to programme Deaf and disabled artists. This makes Deaf and disabled artists visible to the wider community. At Paradise Gardens, organisers programmed Heart n Soul’s The Beautiful Octopus Club, led by artists with learning disabilities. It was the first time the club had been to a mainstream event and it attracted large numbers of Deaf and disabled people. There are increasing numbers of Deaf and disabled-led companies making outdoor work. The toolkit draws on the experience of Liberty, London’s annual Deaf and disability arts festival, and Shape, a disability arts organisation which commissions work from Deaf and disabled artists. It also links to ISAN’s advocacy programme, which brings artist and producers together to improve understanding, and increase the number of Deaf and disabled artists performing outdoors. Making our festivals more accessible for Deaf and disabled audiences and artists is complex. However, once organisers start seriously considering access they view their events quite differently. After all, we organise festivals to bring the whole community together – it hurts to realise that some have been excluded for no other reason than their access needs not being considered.