This is continuation of yesterday’s article “The Best Inclusive Autumn Food Festivals“. The festival recommendations came from the an article in the Observer and here at OpenBritain we’ve undertaken research to try to make them inclusive for all.

As I continued to research based on the Observer’s Article I found myself becoming more and more frustrated due to the lack of information for people with disabilities. The norm is that event organisers only provide information for wheelchair users and those with mobility impairments, the needs of people with other disabilities such as sensory impairments or hidden disabilities are generally ignored or maybe it’s because they are too complicated to be addressed.

Of the seventeen festivals listed in the Observer’s article only 4 of them actually give any information for people with disabilities and in most cases I had to dig around to find that. Some of the events take place at multiple venues, most notably city wide festivals such as the ones in Nottingham, York and Manchester, therefore maybe the reason or excuse for not providing information is that the organisers do not have the resources to collect the data required. However, when considering that many of these events are sponsored by or in collaboration with local councils and tourist information boards surely they have a duty to be inclusive and provide information for everyone.

Although the events from the Observer article don’t have any information for people with disabilities, a friend sent me a link to the Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival (19th & 20th September) who have provided quite a lot of access information for people with disabilities. I also wrote an article on Monday regarding the Coastal Currents Arts Festival in Hastings so it would seem that at least in East Sussex event organisers are becoming more inclusive.

More from the OpenBritain Inclusive Autumn Food Festivals Article.

Whilst flitting through the net looking things to write about for the OpenBritain Blog I came across this article titled “The Best Autumn Food Festivals” by Nichola Iseard in the Observer’s Escape Magazine. Here at OpenBritain we love a good festival whether it be art, music, beer or food but we also need to know what facilities the festivals have for people with disabilites.

For this reason I’ve taken Nichola’s suggestions and dug a little deeper to try to find the information to The Best Inclusive Autumn Food Festivals:

Ludlow Food Festival
11-13 September

Information for people with disabilities:

ACCESSIBILITY

All events in Ludlow Castle and most other venues are suitable for wheelchair access. The entrance to the Castle itself has a rough cobbled surface and a wheelchair user may require assistance – readily available on the spot – for this short section. Some shops have entrance steps but again assistance is readily available. Detailed information can be found at the Festival Information Stall near the Castle entrance, or by phoning 01584 873957

Disabled toilets can be found at the car park off Castle Square, and in the Castle during the Food and Drink Fair. Disabled car park spaces (for disabled badge holders) can be found in the car park off Castle Square.One of the Park & Ride buses has a low floor access. Further information on this will be available from the stewards at the car park.

If you have special needs and require assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our office on 01584 873957, or email info@foodfestival.co.uk , and we will be happy to do what we can to help.

For more information about access in Ludlow generally, please contact Malcolm Marsh at South Shropshire District Council, tel 01584 813367.

More from the OpenBritain Autumn Food Festival Article.

The Coastal Currents Arts Festival was launched over a week ago on the 29th August in Hastings, Rye and Bexhill-on-Sea, but don’t panic the event continues until the 30th September so there’s still plenty of time to get there.

“Coastal Currents 2009 promises to be an exciting and accessible event for both residents and visitors to the area with a wide range of free events including film, performances, music, talks, guided walks and workshops. There are also events designed for specialists – a programme of talks and presentations by artists and curators from the South East and London while a screening of artists’ short films will feature work from emerging and well established artists.”

More from the OpenBritain Coastal Currents Article.

This evening the Somerset Art Works (SAW) exhibtion launch will be held from 4.30 – 8.00pm at the Langport Town Hall and Gardens, Somerset. SAW is a non-profit making organisation promoting the Visual Arts and creating opportunities for Visual Artists and Makers in Somerset through advocacy, promotion and development.

The main part of the SAW exhibition is Art for Everyone that will run from the 19th September – 4th October throughout the region at different venues. The SAW website lists all the venues and also provides some information regarding access for wheelchair users. You can also search the different activities by using their interactive map, by artist name, and art form.

More from the OpenBritain Somerset Art Works Article.

OK, so it’s not quite Glastonbury, but this weekend (4th – 6th September) the small town of Bingley, just outside Bradford, West Yorkshire, hosts it’s very own music festival (BML). The line up includes well known bands such as The Undertones, Doves, Editors and Calvin Harris as well as local bands that have competed for the right to play at BML.On the Essential Information page of the BML website they state:

“There is a viewing area for disabled people at the side of the event arena. Guide Dogs for the blind and/or deaf are the only animals allowed on the Festival site. Parking for disabled blue badge holders is available at Myrtle Park Primary School, Beech Street. (Follow signs) Please note: Disabled parking spaces are limited and are available on a first come first served basis.

Southbank Centre 4th – 6th September 2009

Celebrating insects in art, and the art of being an insect.

Pestival is a rare creature: an international, inter-disciplinary, community-led festival. Events include insect-inspired comedy, music, ID walks, talks, workshops, experiments, fashion and a termite inspired architectural structure at the centre of Pestival 2009. 80% of creatures on earth are insects, the ‘pests’ without whom humans wouldn’t survive. Pestival celebrates the 100s of millions of years of evolution, which places insects at the heart of human existence. Pestival 2009 celebrates how insects shape our world, and how humans shape the world of insects, in both science and the arts.

More from the OpenBritain Pestival Article.

Disability Capital, scheduled to take place on Friday 25 September, is a conference with wide ranging themes of interest to Deaf and disabled people and is organised by the Mayor of London in association with F2F Events. This year’s conference will feature a number of high profile speakers and include sessions on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, improving accessibility in London, promoting skills and employment, transport and disability arts. Delegates will be from across a number of sectors including Primary Care Trust’s, boroughs & local councils, voluntary associations, charities, government and housing bodies.

More from the Disability Capital article.

Apart from my work with accessible.travel I also started consulting for a new website due to be launched at the start of September which is will provide tourist and daily living information for people with disabilities and seniors in the UK called OpenBritain.

Although the site isn’t yet ready, my work with them has already begun to take me the length and bredth of the country and has allowed me to do a few blog posts for them including a review of the Equal Adventure Festival 09 in Aviemore, Scotland and the Caledonian Sleeper train to London.

Please see below for links to these posts on the OpenBritain Blog:

Welcome to the OpenBritain Blog

Train Travel from Leeds to Aviemore

Equal Adventure Festival 09

Caledonian Sleeper from Aviemore to London

Please note that the OpenBritain launch date is the 1st September 2009, please come and visit us again to see the full completed site. In the meantime, here’s some OpenBritain News!

I recently attended the Equal Adventure Festival in Scotland on behalf of OpenBritain and part of the adventure was catching a train from Leeds to Aviemore.

I prebooked a one way train ticket to Aviemore and assistance at Leeds City Train Station which cost £69.85 with my Disabled Persons Railcard. When my departure date came around I arrived at Leeds about 15 minutes before the train was due to leave and boarded without a hitch.

The space for wheelchair users on the train is clearly marked and comfirtable including a small table, plug socket and an emergency intercom to be able to speak directly with the driver.

The next part of the adventure was when I arrived at Edinburgh Train Station to find that of the lifts wasn’t in operation due to refurbishment work. I was quickly and effectively loaded and onto a platform vehicle with tank-like tracks for decending the staircase.

The whole experience was great fun and the staff at ScotRail were appropriately trained, helpful and respectful of my dignity. Shortly afterwards I continued my journey to Aviemore without incident where I was met by one of the team from Equal Adventure.

Below: A video of the Edinburgh Station stair decent.

After my blog post yesterday about the launch of accessible.travel Cape Town I am even slightly surprised myself to be able to announce the launch of accessible.travel Melbourne today!

We still have some work to do on both destination pages such as add maps and bathroom sketches but the basic information regarding a few hotels is there. Thanks to our collaborator Bill Forrester, Director of Travability and our web designer, Quim Mañas Marsiñach, of cmpst, for all their hard work.

Below: Melbourne, provided by Bill Forrester through the accessible.travel Community.