How not to be a stick-in-the-mud

As the Summer sun sets on your last regret for that festival you once again didn’t get to go to, Mik Scarlet ploughs through the mud to find the best advice on how to be prepared for next year’s festival season

Festivals and large outdoor music events have proliferated throughout the UK in the last few years. Back in my youth, when I was a regular festival goer, the disabled access was pretty basic but nowadays it’s getting better and better. This is thanks in no short measure to the fantastic work of Attitude is Everything (AIE), the group of disabled music enthusiasts who work with the music industry to improve access to venues, festivals and nightclubs. They advise the promoters of outdoor events on how to make their access as good as possible and produce a Best Practice Charter that is now industry standard.

Unsurprisingly, Suzanne Bull, Attitude is Everything’s chief executive officer, says that in gearing up for a festival or outdoor music event, preparation is everything.

“Make sure that you have found out enough information about a particular festival to make an informed choice about whether to go or not. If you can’t find the information easily, contact them or Attitude is Everything. Be prepared for all sorts of weather – rain and shine will happen all in one day. Also a festival site changes as night falls so make sure you take plenty of layers of clothes, a headtorch, as sites tend not to be well-lit, and make sure you familiarise yourself with the festival site and where everything is before night falls.”

I fancied trying out the Lovebox festival, in Victoria Park, East London. It is one of the events AIE works closely with and I found contacting the event’s access team pretty straight forward. With my access needs sorted, and a free ticket for my PA (or wife as I call her) booked, the big day arrived.

The weather forecast did not look good, so we set off with my head filled with images of mud-soaked festival goers . There were a few little hassles once we arrived, like parking and a lack of wrist bands to gain entrance to the raised viewing platform, but they were soon solved and we were in. The site was already pretty muddy, and I found it pretty hard going to get to the main stage. Once safely ensconced, I began chatting to the other disabled gig goers. What tips did they have?

Fellow fan of hair dye, Delenn, laughed as the rain fell: “Go to one in a sunny country! Prepare for dodgy toilets and also to be disappointed... not every promoter gets it right. If you use a wheelchair or crutches I’d decorate them with glo-sticks. When it’s dark people don’t always see you’re disabled and you can end up in the mud!”

Delenn also told me that the night before a group of VIPs gatecrashed the viewing platform and pushed those who were meant to be there out of the way, ending up in a fist fight. Now that’s standing up for your rights.

Maria Stewart, who had just wheeled from the beer tent, looked at her mud- soaked hands and cried “bring handy wipes!” Plus a heat pad in case it gets cold and waterproof everything. Maria had even covered her cushion and wheelchair backrest in bin bags. Clever.

Just how clever became apparent as the heaven’s opened and it rained so heavily that water forced its way through our golfing umbrella. Now quite wet, we stayed for another couple of hours, and a couple of heavy showers, at which point my wife noticed how muddy the site was becoming. So we made our excuses and left, fighting our way through some of the thickest mud I have ever seen. Once outside I had to find a puddle to clean my wheels enough to put my chair in my car.

So what would my advice be? Don’t wear your favourite leather jacket, get a good umbrella and be prepared to be sweeping up dried mud all over your home for weeks to come. But give it a go, because some of the best fun I’ve had in my life was at festivals. I just wish I could remember it all!

• attitudeiseverything.org.uk