Accessibility Man: My thoughts on the Saturday night Scottish Festival concert

First things first, I just want to say that Finger Eleven is an awesome band, Saturday night at the Kincardine Scottish Festival! The sound was great, and it was easy to hear the band with the set-up and equipment that it had.

However, here are some thoughts I had on how we can work to make the event more accessible for people like me who have mobility issues.

My first thought was that the cobblestone walkway, though manageable, was very bumpy and very uncomfortable to try and navigate my wheelchair across to get to the main seating area. There was also not a clear pathway - were people sitting everywhere and it was not easy to steer my way through the tight spaces.

There was no clear area around the stage. Crowds of people sitting on the ground, jumping around in the mosh pit and sitting on tightly-packed chairs made it almost impossible for me to get up to the stage. It was also pretty hard to see the band over the heads of people standing in front of me. I stood for as long as I could but needed to sit back down often.

Having pre-purchased drink tokens made it easier to get a drink, but the tight spacing of the picnic tables in the beer gardens was hard to get through.

I didn’t even get to check and see if there was an accessible washroom. The crowd was so massive that I didn’t try to get through it. A couple of people, not noticing me, tripped over me while trying to get though the crowd as well.

It would be great to consider for future events putting down some kind of wheelchair accessible mat to create a clear path through the park. It would also be nice to have a sectioned-off area close to the stage for people who have mobility issues.

I want to conclude by noting some things that were really great about my experience!

The vendors were nice and close, and it was easy for me to grab a souvenir. The food trucks were set up in such a way that anyone could easily access them.

The band's equipment was well contained to the stage area and not a tripping hazard for anyone.

Overall, I had a great experience with very friendly volunteers and a polite and respectful crowd. When I got the chance to meet the band members, they were very accommodating with respect to my mobility issues and made me feel included.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook at fb.me/AccessibilityMan to hear more of my thoughts on accessibility as it relates to current events.