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Sales for disabled tickets at gigs and festivals has risen

30th May 2015

Following the improvements made by venues and ticketing sites, as well as campaigns such as Why Not People?, more disabled people are attending live music events. A charity called Attitude is Everything has found that disabled-access ticket sales have increased by 70 per cent in the last year, with more than 114,000 sold in 2014, compared with just 67,000 in 2013.

Events included in these numbers range from festivals such as Glastonbury and Download to venues such as the O2 in London and Manchester Academy. More than 100 venues and festivals signed up to the charities charter of best practice, which suggests action points such as the introduction of stairlifts, clear signage and appropriate lighting so that disabled people can easily find their way around independently have been implemented.

Attitudes are changing for the better

In an article by the Guardian, Suzanne Bull, the founder and chief executive of Attitude Is Everything, said: “The disabled customer base has increased because venues and ticketing sites are improving. It’s like the line in the film Field of Dreams: if you build it, they will come. Word-of-mouth reputation is very important in the disabled community.”

When analysing government data, the charity found that out of the ten million disabled adults in the UK, almost four million had attended at least one gig during the 2013/2014 year. This is a figure that has double in the past six years, with non-disabled gig-goers remaining relatively static in comparison.

As an example, the Roundhouse in Camden saw the sales of disabled-access tickets double after making them available to customers online. Download Festival also increased its disabled camping area from 450 to 1,500 capacity, which has helped with the dramatic increase of disabled fans attending music events.

In previous years, many disabled people attending gigs had been left to feel isolated and humiliated, due to having to pay extra costs for carers, and having to deal with limited seating facilities for instance. With this latest news, this looks to be changing for the better.

Image Credit: Pink Sherbert Photography (Flickr.com)

This content was written by Emily Bray. Please feel free to visit my Google + profile to read more stories.

This news article is from Handicare UK. Articles that appear on this website are for information purposes only.