Cheltenham Jazz Festival aims to democratise culture as accessibility pioneer

The Cheltenham Jazz Festival says it is embracing accessibility improvements as a way to help "democratise culture".

To that end it has adopted the use of a sign to make people aware that not all disabilities are easily visible.

It has also installed viewing platforms for wheelchair users and lowered the height of bars too.

Andrew Lansley, innovation manager at Cheltenham Festivals, said organisers tried to make the event more accessible to people with additional needs.

The new disability sign features a person in a wheelchair, alongside the figures of a man and woman standing with wheelchair signs superimposed on their heads to suggest hidden disabilities.

It reads: "Some disabilities are visible, some are not. Take care of each other."

The design was the brainchild of student Sam Vestey, who studies at National Star - a specialist college near Cheltenham for people with physical disabilities, brain injury and associated learning difficulties.

The 20-year-old worked with a student at St John's School and College in Brighton to create the design.

Mr Vestey said he thought the wheelchair icon used on blue badges and disabled bays was now outdated.

He told BBC West: "I wanted to change the perception of disability and highlight the fact you can be disabled without being in a wheelchair.

"People may not look disabled on the outside but may have hidden disabilities."

Asked how he felt when he saw his sign being used, he said: "It makes me feel happy, it makes me feel valued."

Roz Blakeway, who uses a wheel chair, and her husband Phil, said they had enjoyed pop singer Mika's set from one of the new viewing platforms.

Watching the show from the viewing platform was "absolutely fantastic," Mrs Blakeway said.

"We had the best view of the whole venue, we could hear really well, we could see everything - you just didn't feel like you are in the way of everybody."

Mr Lansley said their comments were "music to my ears".

"What we have been doing is listening to the community and we are working with people to try and improve accessibility to venues," he said.

As well as adjustments for the audience, the festival has worked to improve accessibility in its backstage and front-of-house areas so that performers and crew with disabilities are not excluded either.

Mr Lansley said: "We are trying to democratise culture - I think it takes all kinds of people to make music, to make jazz, to make all the wonderful things we enjoy as a society."

Alex Covell from the disability-led charity Attitude is Everything works to make music and events venues more accessible to people with additional needs and welcomed the changes.

She said she had noticed a shift in attitudes in the wake of the Covid outbreak, with more people wanting to be involved in public events.

Ms Covell said making accessibility changes also made economic sense for the events industry.

"This isn't a minority group, people always think (people with disabilities) are a minority group but actually about a quarter of people in the UK identify as deaf, disabled or neurodivergent or have a long term health condition.

"That's a huge amount of people."

Cheltenham Jazz Festival is taking place between 26 April and 1 May 2023.

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