The UK Equality And Human Rights Commission says it is “content” that Live Nation and its Festival Republic division have now fulfilled commitments they made back in 2023 to address accessibility issues at their music festivals. It now also “expects” other festival promoters to examine what they are doing to make their events more accessible for disabled music fans.
“Festivals should be a place where everyone can have fun and make lasting memories”, says EHRC Chair Mary-Ann Stephenson. “That’s why we took action against Live Nation, using our regulatory powers to ensure it complied with its legal duties to create inclusive and accessible events that everyone can be a part of”.
The EHRC describes itself as an “independent statutory body” responsible for “encouraging equality and diversity, eliminating unlawful discrimination, and protecting and promoting the human rights of everyone in Britain”. It took action against Live Nation in 2023 after media reports of accessibility issues at the Wireless festival in 2022 and the Download festival in 2023.
In its new statement, the EHRC notes that the Equality Act 2010 “requires service providers, such as festival operators, to make anticipatory reasonable adjustments for disabled people”. In practical terms, that means they must “anticipate what adjustments could be needed by customers with different types of disability, support and access needs”.
After disabled festival-goers reported various problems with Live Nation-owned festivals - including not being able to see the stage, a lack of accessible toilets and event staff who questioned their disabilities - the EHRC decided to take action. The result was a legally-binding agreement, signed in November 2023, that obliged Live Nation to improve access provisions at its major UK festivals.
That included instigating “policies and guidelines that ensure accessibility is embedded at every stage of a fan’s journey for all festivals”, as well as publishing enhanced accessibility guides for festival-goers, and auditing all its websites and apps to ensure they met web content accessibility guidelines.
There were also commitments to put in place compulsory organisation-wide disability awareness and inclusion training; sensory calm spaces at all festivals; and a mystery shopper system where disabled participants attend selected festivals and assess the accessible facilities available.
Once that agreement was signed, EHRC monitored how Live Nation went about putting those new measures into action. “After monitoring its activity for the past two years”, Stephenson continues, “we’re content that Live Nation has met the terms of its legal agreement with us, making a series of necessary changes to ensure disabled fans can enjoy festivals just as easily as anyone else”.
“These tangible improvements”, she adds “will create an environment every fan can enjoy and give disabled people an opportunity to have their voices heard, shaping the accessibility of future events”.
Addressing the wider live music industry, Stephenson then concludes, “we expect other festival operators to take this opportunity to examine what they are doing to make reasonable adjustments for disabled fans and ensure they are creating inclusive events for everyone”.