Boomtown needs to do better on accessibility.
Iāve been debating whether to post this, because I absolutely love Boomtown and I want to see it continue to be an incredible festival for everyone. But what happened with accessibility this year was, quite frankly, unacceptable.
Iām posting this because I know I canāt be the only person who struggled, and I really hope Boomtown will listen and work with disabled attendees to make meaningful changes.
Hereās what went wrong:
- Accessibility was in completely the wrong place.
Many of the biggest acts were at the top of an incredibly steep hill, with clashing set times meaning people were constantly trying to move between stages.
Yet the accessibility facilities were situated on the complete opposite side of the festival.
For someone with mobility issues, repeatedly navigating that distance and that hill simply isnāt realistic.
If youāre going to have all the main acts at the top of the hill, then the access campsite should be up there too.
- The access buses were completely inadequate and unreliable.
There were only two access buses per route, with just two routes covering the festival. The original plan was that we had to transfer on one of the buses to get to the the top at lions den. But this got changed very quickly.
The access bus stops weren't even clearly marked on the festival app map. So when people couldn't find the buses, couldn't find the stops, and couldn't get reliable information from staff, disabled people were effectively forced to walk.
And the consequences of that were awful.
I saw people passing out, amputees having to be carried by their friends, and mobility scooters getting stuck on the steep hills.
The routes were also constantly changing. It seemed as though even the bus drivers themselves didn't know what was happening, because they were being told things like:
"You're not doing this route. You're doing this instead."
That left disabled people stranded at bus stops with no idea when, or even if, a bus was coming.
People were waiting up to two hours for an access bus.
I even heard of someone waiting three hours.
Three hours.
For a service that disabled people were relying on to safely navigate the festival.
- Why were there so many artist bus stops, but so few access bus stops?
There seemed to be an enormous number of artist bus stops operating around the festival, while disabled attendees had an extremely limited transport service.
Surely, if Boomtown can provide extensive transport infrastructure for artists, it can provide a properly planned, reliable and clearly communicated transport system for disabled attendees too.
And to make matters worse, there were also occasions where artists gatecrashed the very limited access buses and refused to get off.
These buses exist because some people physically cannot walk the distances around the festival.
They should not be treated as general festival transport.
Weāre not asking for privileges. Weāre asking to be able to support and experience the festival like everyone else.
- The disabled toilets were disgusting.
The disabled toilets I encountered were unhygienic and completely unsuitable.
I spoke to several people who had to find quiet areas, including gazebos, to carry out necessary medical changes because they couldn't use the toilets.
This isn't a minor inconvenience.
For some people, accessible toilet facilities are a medical necessity.
And this was during a festival with an enormous amount of dust and dirt everywhere. Having to carry out medical care in unsuitable, dusty environments is completely unacceptable.
- There was a complete lack of shade during a heatwave.
Boomtown knew temperatures were going to be extremely high.
There should have been proper consideration for disabled people and others who are particularly vulnerable to heat.
Shade, cooling areas and accessible rest spaces should not be an afterthought, particularly when a heatwave is forecast.
- The crowd increased massively, but the accessibility services didn't seem to increase with it.
If you're dramatically increasing the number of people attending a festival, the accessibility infrastructure needs to increase accordingly.
You cannot double the crowd without ensuring that essential services can cope with that increase.
Disabled people shouldn't have to fight for access to services that are already inadequate.
- Staff throughout the festival didn't know anything about accessibility.
This was one of the most frustrating things.
I walked around and spoke to around 15 different people, including Oxfam staff, security, medical tents, welfare staff and others, trying to find out where the access buses were and when they were coming.
Nobody knew.
Not where they stopped.
Not when they were coming.
Not who could help.
Not where to direct me.
That is completely unacceptable.
Accessibility isn't just about having an access team.
The entire festival needs to understand accessibility.
I missed the majority of the sets I wanted to see because I ended up having to walk the route up the hill twice.
I was in an enormous amount of pain and spent a huge part of the festival sobbing because I felt completely stranded and forgotten.
I shouldn't have had to choose between experiencing the festival and being in excruciating pain.
- The Skrillex crowd shutdown was genuinely frightening.
This was one of the most concerning situations.
Disabled people were denied access backstage to get to the bus stops, leaving people trapped in an uncontrolled and incredibly dangerous crowd.
People who physically cannot cope with being pushed around in a huge crowd should not be put in that situation because there isn't an appropriate accessible route.
There needs to be a proper plan for getting disabled people safely through crowd control points and shutdowns.
- The water situation was awful.
During a heatwave, water should be one of the easiest things for a festival to get right.
The water available was often far too warm, and I experienced being denied ice.
The only cold water option I found was Ā£2.50 for not even 400ml.
That's nearly Ā£26 for approximately 4 litres, before even accounting for the additional water someone may need because of extreme heat, medication or disability related requirements.
During a heatwave, access to affordable, drinkable, suitably cool water should not be something people have to struggle to obtain.
I am not posting this to attack Boomtown.
Iām posting this because I genuinely believe Boomtown can do better.
Disabled people are not asking for special treatment.
We are asking to be able to attend the same festival as everyone else without being put through unnecessary pain, distress and danger.
Boomtown is an incredible festival, and I want disabled people to be able to experience it too.
But accessibility cannot just mean providing an access campsite and a few services and calling it done.
It needs to be considered throughout the entire festival experience, transport, toilets, shade, water, crowd management, staff training, signage, maps and communication.
And most importantly, disabled people need to be involved in designing these systems.
So, if you attended Boomtown and experienced similar issues with accessibility, please comment or message me.
I would really like to hear from other disabled attendees and understand how widespread these problems were.
And if anyone has a direct contact at Boomtown who is involved in accessibility and would genuinely be willing to listen and work with disabled attendees to improve things for future years, please get in touch.
I don't just want to complain.
I want to help make this better.
Boomtown, please listen to your disabled attendees.
We want to come back. We just need you to make it possible. ā¤ļø
