How to make your event accessible: learnings from Ability Fest
This weekend Linda and her colleague Kushla volunteered at Ability Fest to learn what accessibility regional events can implement.
TL;DR (too long; didn’t read): See quick, free wins for your event’s accessibility below.
Images: Linda and Kushla at the volunteer briefing and entering through the gates, Kushla wearing a volunteer shirt and wearing a haptic vest and headphones at the silent disco.
Ability Fest is a music festival designed for everyone, providing (and promoting) access and inclusion within the music industry. Ability Fest uses the power of music to bring people together and help normalise disability while setting a standard for accessibility, inclusion and diversity at events.
Not all events can afford to have the extent of infrastructure and services that Ability Fest had, however there are foundation things that all events can introduce now to improve inclusion. Ability Fest provided:
Accessible bathrooms and changing places
Pathways and hard flooring
Elevated viewing platforms
Tactile sensory silent disco
Auslan interpreters
Live captioning
Assistance dog relief area
Access liaison (a person whose job it is to help people with disability access support)
Accessible parking area
Accessible drop off and pick up zones
Companion Card entry free
Ear plugs
Designated chill spaces and sensory zones
Friendly volunteers to assist
Bindi maps navigation app
Hidden disabilities sunflower lanyards
A Hidden Disabilities Sunflower is worn by people with non-visible disability, such as anxiety or a neurological difference, to notify others they may need a helping hand, understanding, or more time. Sunflower lanyards were available for patrons (and volunteers) at the gate, and staff and volunteers were aware of the meaning behind the Sunflower to be able to provide support.
Images: Some of the accessibility features of Ability Fest: temporary paved paths, portable adult changing station, chill out zone, an elevated viewing area and how a high stage enable people to sit on the grass but still see over standing people, Auslan interpretation and live captioning, a non-alcoholic bar separate from bars selling alcohol and a communication board at the info tent.
As volunteer festival attendants we had the fun job of roving the festival site helping everyone have a great time and answering any questions they had.
Attending Ability Fest was a powerful reminder of the social value of events: 5,000 people of all abilities connecting, laughing, dancing...everyone equal and everyone driven by the same motivation - to have fun!
Here we share what we learned, and also what attendees, staff and volunteers said they’d love to see at all regional events in terms of access (we asked loads of people!).
Our highlights
It was so heartwarming to be at an inclusive event where everyone is proactively welcomed – the festival had a really great vibe as a space for everyone to belong. Everyone just wants to have a great time and here they could because the event met their physical needs, as well as being socially inclusive.
We both enjoyed seeing all the inclusion, and both said we wish all events had more attendees with disability at them.
A favourite moment for Kushla was trying out a wheelchair to experience what is it like to get around a festival as a wheelchair user: on the hard path, on the grass, up and down ramps, and on the viewing platform. Such an experience (another example is wearing vision-impairment goggles) can help a lot with providing insights into the challenges of people with disability visiting your festival.
We loved watching the Auslan interpreters – they had so much energy and fun interpreting – in addition to providing access for people who are Deaf, their energy added to the experience for non-Deaf attendees.
The music was great! There was often a good mix between the two stages, with more gentle music at one while the other played dance beats.
Images: Sunscreen dispensers throughout, temporary paving, friendship bracelet making, signage directing to the service animal relief area and water, donation signs and info on what a donation will support, wheelchair accessible portaloo, drinking water refill station.
Learnings for regional events
The site plan supported a balanced event experience: there was the right capacity with capped tickets, the music on the two stages didn’t clash, the site wasn’t too big, the music wasn’t too loud, there were options: music, activities and quiet spaces, and there were enough toilets (no queues that we saw).
A higher than normal stage meant from far back you could see over the crowd to see the whole show. A volunteer said, ‘My disability is I’m short, and I love being able to see everything.’ This would provide access for wheelchair users and those who need to sit, even without elevated viewing areas.
The elevated viewing areas were fun for everyone – there were seats up there, so anyone could go up and enjoy that space, not only wheelchair users, and it had a different vibe, providing a different experience.
We tried on the haptic vest at the silent disco which gently vibrated to the beat of the music. Kushla had had a very different expectation of how intense the beats would be, so she was disappointed that it didn’t seem a person with hearing impairment would get much value out of it, but the disco volunteer told us that a lady with hearing impairment absolutely LOVED the vest. However, the bass at the main stage was pumping, and everyone could feel that in their body, which was fun.
One support worker mentioned that tables are useful to enable care givers to feed the person with disability they are caring for. There were some at Ability Fest, and they tended to always be used, so he’d ended up kneeling to feed the person he was supporting.
We noticed the pathways made getting around easier for everyone, and tended to direct traffic around the site.
Kushla tried the Bindi maps app which provides very precise spoken directions around a festival site for people with visual impairments. She found the instructions should be tested prior as she was taken a bit away from her destination (an accessible loo), and the app would have had her walk directly into a row of bins.
Lockers are a good idea! It meant people could bring needed food, equipment and medication, but not have to schlep it all around with them all day.
Popular music and music with a great beat meant everyone could sing along and dance – this was also great access.
It was a good idea to have an activity – a friendship bracelet making area was always busy.
ANZ sponsored a sensory chill out area, with noise-blocking headsets, comfy seating, low lighting, a portable air-conditioner, and fidget toys (and they are keen to partner with other events). We’ve seen low-cost sensory marquees at other events, which were simply a small marquee tent set away from the main noise sources with similar equipment.
The weather was perfect: 25C and cloudy. This really was helpful for everyone, but particularly people whose bodies have difficulty regulating temperature. (Consider this when choosing your event date.)
Free drinking water was provided throughout the site via big containers with taps in them. We often hear this is very expensive for event organisers to provide, but the option used here seemed affordable.
Volunteers and staff could wear an ‘I speak Auslan’ badge so Deaf people could find someone who could help them in sign language. What a great and simple solution (and would also be good for speakers of non-English languages in a multicultural community).
The event made it easy for patrons to donate to the event’s fundraising cause, which was to support youth with disability, with QR codes posted around the site, and at the glitter face painting, which was by donation.
Quick wins: easy, cost-free event accessibility
Following are simple and free things that any event organiser can do to improve their event’s accessibility. Remember, when you support attendees with disability, you also support volunteers and staff who have disability, which can increase your volunteer pool.
1. Provide a page about access on the event’s website to help people with disability plan their visit, such as
How to arrive (e.g. how to get from nearby public transport stop) and accessible parking
What accessibility infrastructure there is (e.g. wheelchair accessible portaloos, a sensory ‘chill out’ tent, and free drinking water)
The program’s accessibility (e.g. which shows are interpreted or don’t use language, such as a dance)
Any low income or companion card pricing.
Here is an example of such a page to help you get started.
2. Provide training to staff and volunteers on accessibility basics to improve their confidence and the attendee experience. This brief video from Sydney Festival is an excellent one to share with staff and volunteers as it quickly encapsulates how to make people with different kinds of disability feel welcome, and help them overcome barriers.
Find accessibility training videos here.
3. Make sure your website and communications are accessible, such as by including image descriptions your social media posts. Learn about this at and
4. Choose a venue that supports access e.g. with nearby parking and public transport access, and that is flat with paved pathways throughout. Think about layout with universal access in mind.
5. Leverage sponsors to improve the event experience.
Ability Fest’s volunteer experience
Ability Fest is delivered by Untitled Group, Australia’s largest independent music & event company. They used Rosterfy to set up automated email communications and provide us with simple accessibility training.
The volunteer coordinator was very friendly, gave us a refresh of our training with a briefing (sitting comfortably in the shade), and provided name tags, sunscreen, drinks, and snacks.
How businesses can leverage events
At Ability Fest we also looked for examples of how businesses can partner with events to provide valuable access infrastructure or activities. For example, ANZ provided a chill out zone and games, and Cocobella gave out free hydrating drinks (great for attendees, and great for the brand to introduce their products to a new audience). Both of these organisations are open to partnering with other events.
Anytime Fitness sponsored one of the most popular activations at the event which was glitter face painting. There was always a huge line up for this, but it was a missed opportunity for the brand as aside from one sign inside the tent it wasn’t clear there was a brand sponsoring this activity or what the connection between the brand, glitter and disability was. Some ideas for how the queue could have been leveraged were:
Providing live demos or videos of physical training that people with disability can do and that supports their wellbeing.
Having exercise equipment there for people to try out.
Having a personal trainer there to provide personalised exercise advice (e.g. people with the same disability as you often find it helpful to do upper body and core exercises.’).
Handing out vouchers to try the gym.
If your event partners with corporate sponsors, encourage them to wring the most value out of their sponsorship that they can! If you would like glitter facepainting at your festival, Glitoris (quite an unforgettable name!) is a national company, and uses biodegradable glitter.
Images: The line for glitter facepainting stretched way back; Kushla with a man with a glittered beard.
We just loved the silent disco by Party Higher (what a great pun!) (It was next to the DJ stage which you can hear in this video.) It was so inclusive and so fun! This was Linda’s favourite part of the festival.
Thank you to Ability Fest for this opportunity.