BuDS supported Buckinghamshire Council to make WhizzFizzFest 2022 more accessible and inclusive for disabled people and – for the first time – we also helped make the event more Covid safe for clinically vulnerable people.
WhizzFizzFest is a family literary festival held in Aylesbury. Originally the Roald Dahl Festival, it has now expanded to celebrate all children’s literature. In 2022, the event consisted of performances, readings, stalls and activities, stage performances, and a parade by local schools and groups. Buckinghamshire Council are committed to making all their events Fair4All and, while there is always room for improvement, WhizzFizzFest 2022 was a great deal more accessible than most events of its type. This is why we were happy for the council to describe it as a Fair4All event.
How did BuDS help at the event? A good deal of the disabled accessibility was built in by the event organisers: there were relaxed performances, activities specifically for disabled children, and the event stewards were all disability aware. BuDS helped by providing specialist support to the event organiser. This included setting up and staffing two disabled viewing areas, providing a quiet ‘chill-out’ space for autistic and learning disabled children and adults, and general help to the event stewards.
How was the event for disabled people? Attendance at the event was much smaller than pre-pandemic, and the number of disabled people attending was also much smaller. However, the main stage viewing area was more than half full throughout the day, and the parade viewing area was used by a reasonable number of people in the circumstances. Most of the disabled people present said that knowing BuDS would be there to support them made a difference as to whether or not they attended. The quiet area was used too, although not as much as in pre-pandemic events.
What about Covid safety? Covid safety was BuDS’ top priority for its own event volunteers. Everyone was issued with our new FFP2 face masks and these were worn throughout the event to protect volunteers and other people. Each mask was fit tested on issue. BuDS volunteers remained outdoors (even our volunteer base was outdoors) and the breeze helped keep everyone safe. We also had hand sanitiser available, although Covid-19 spreads mainly in the air. We tested CO2 levels to check how fresh the air was.
We made our disabled viewing areas larger so that people could socially distance within them, and also so that people were not standing close to crowds. This was very much welcomed by many clinically vulnerable people. Rahmi, who is clinically vulnerable, said that she would not have been able to stay to watch her children in the parade had it not been for our socially distanced viewing areas.
Lessons to learn
Every event is a learning experience. Lessons from WhizzFizzFest 2022 are:
- Disabled people still need access support at events, even during the pandemic
- Clinically vulnerable people highly value support to make events Covid-safer
- If an event is accessible and inclusive, disabled people will come!
Things to look at again:
- Making sure all events and facilities for disabled people are included on the event organisers main website, so disabled visitors don’t have to visit several websites to get the full picture
- Disabled viewing areas must give a good view of the whole of the stage – although this was partially solved at WhizzFizzFest, stages must be planned to give good views for disabled people too
- If there is competition between alternative uses of a space, disabled people must be given priority over non-disabled users
- Supporting accessibility and Covid safety at events needs a lot of volunteers!
Wrapping it all up
WhizzFizzFest was a successful event, both for the general public and for disabled people. It was great for BuDS to continue its partnership with Buckinghamshire Council and we look forward to more events in the future.
The event also proved that, with very careful precautions in place, it is acceptably safe for BuDS to continue supporting events during the pandemic. This is great news because, as shown above, both disabled and clinically vulnerable people really need our help.
A special thank you to the Tesco Grants For Good scheme which very generously funded some of the equipment we needed to support disabled and clinically vulnerable people at this event.