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Family festival Just So wins Gold Award for accessibility 

By | Published on Tuesday 18 July 2017

Attitude Is Everything

Accessibility charity Attitude Is Everything has awarded the family orientated Just So Festival its Gold Award, meaning it is now among a premiere league of the most accessible outdoor events in the UK. The Glastonbury, Greenbelt and Liberty festivals have all previously been handed a Gold Award by Attitude Is Everything.

The charity, which encourages the live industry to make its venues and events more accessible to disabled and deaf music fans, says that the new Gold Award “recognises the ways in which Just So has gone beyond best practice recommendations and demonstrated to the wider events industry what is possible when creativity and audience-engagement combine”.

Of particular note are pre-event information initiatives, including an audio guide and 360 degree virtual tour of the Just So site. Attitude Is Everything has been increasingly vocal of late about the role pre-event information about a venue, site and programme play in making music events accessible to all.

Attitude Is Everything chief Suzanne Bull says: “I’m absolutely delighted to see Just So Festival, such an innovative and creative family event, gain the Gold Award via our Charter Of Best Practice. The organisers are a fantastic example of how access does not need to be treated as a niche, bolt-on addition to a festival. They demonstrate how access can be at the core of creative event-planning, and how this can benefit the experience of all attendees. Exciting things can emerge from consulting with disabled customers and striving to make the festival experience better each year. We can’t wait to see what the festival does next”.

Meanwhile Just So Festival Director Sarah Bird adds: “We are delighted to have achieved this prestigious Gold Award on Attitude Is Everything’s Charter Of Best Practice. Since first encountering AIE four years ago, their guidance and advice has really helped us to think differently about what our deaf and disabled audiences need. From the outset they encouraged us to think of access as a conversation with our audience and it’s turned out to be a really inspiring and exciting conversation to have started. We look forward to continuing to work with them to help shape a more holistic approach to accessibility across all areas of Just So Festival”.



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