Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled

Subject: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,Mikey
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 03:05 PM

Me and the missus have always enjoyed Shrewsbury (previously Bridgnorth) Folk Festival. As the the missus is disabled we've made use of the concessionary ticket prices offered. To be honest that's the only way we could afford to go to the festival.

We couldn't afford it last year because there was only a slight reduction is ticket price for the disabled.

This year I see that the full ticket price is £98 before April, but there is only a £5 reduction for disabled, unemployed, students etc.

We expect to pay our way but I feel a £5 reduction for disabled persons is just paying lip service to helping those on limited means attend the festival.

Am I expecting too much?

Mike

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: Fran
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 03:28 AM

You get reserved front row seats in all the main venues, a reserved exclusive area to camp with good facilities and a five pound discount, they are trying!

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,Mikey
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 05:17 AM

I take your point, but up until a couple of years ago there was a more substantial price difference for those who are unintentionally financially worse off, whether disabled, unemployed, student etc.

With regard to the camping area, unless you arrive very early it's difficult to get on to the camping area for disabled, although the stewards have always been brilliantly helpful. But they are anyway!

Unless we win the lottery (unlikely as we don't enter) we won't be able to afford to go to Shrewsbury :-(

I was just wondering what others in our situation thought.

Mike

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: Fran
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 06:22 AM

I am jobless and most likely will not be able to afford to go this year either but will attend some of the smaller cheaper festivals and hopefully see some great new artists.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: Silas
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 06:48 AM

Well, where do I start? There are thousands, possibly millions of people who can't afford, for one reason or another, to go to some of these events. It's tough, but that's life I'm afaid. I don't expect my local pub to reduce the price of their beer just because I can't afford it, so why should festival organisers be exected to do the same? As for not getting there early enough, well, why can't you get there early enough?

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: Dave Earl
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 06:51 AM

As I expect you know a common way of providing tickets to a disabled person is for the disabled person to pay the full price and for an assistant/carer to be provided with a ticket at no cost. Effectively a BOGOF

This is certainly true at two major Folk Festivals where I work in the Box Office and also at the Commercial Concert Hall that is my Day Job.

Do Shrewsbury FF consider the above to be a proper way of dealing with this issue?

Dave

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,Mikey
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 11:44 AM

Silas: unlike my wife, I have to work and can't afford to take extra time off so we couldn't arrive until the Friday evening.

Other festivals seem to offer concessionary ticket schemes, often similar to the one that Dave has just described.

Fran: We'll no doubt see you at some of the smaller festivals, like the White Horse.

Mike

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: Silas
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 12:17 PM

Well Mike, I can well understand why provision for access for disabled people should be a priority for organsers of events, that I think is a given, but I see no reason for financial concessions over what are given for unemployed or students.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: John J
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 06:36 PM

Time to vote with your feet Mike.

It's a bit sad when, what should be an inclusive event, excludes someone because they genuinely can't raise the funds to buy a ticket.

As Fran said earlier, there are many smaller and much cheaper festivals which offer excellent value. Many are very accommodating towards those in a less fortunate financial position, particularly the disabled and their carers.

Last year we attended a number of festivals, one was free whilst some were extremely cheap. All were excellent and didn't discriminate against disabled.

We didn't do Shrewsbury last year and probably won't this year, it is rather on the pricy side for us. On the other hand we won't be staying at home much during the festival season.

The last time we did Shrewsbury I was on crutches, the stewards couldn't do enough for me, they were marvellous.

Very best wishes to you and your other half - if you would like details of the cheap / free festivals please PM me.

JJ
(FYI my wife is also disabled)

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,Silas
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 05:31 AM

Well JJ, that post was a load of tosh if you don't mind me saying so. You seem to be saying that events should allow people in even if they can't afford a ticket - really!!!
You then further go on to imply that Shrewsbury discriminates against the disabled!

Lets have a little common sense here shall we...

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: Jack Campin
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 05:47 AM

If "Silas" is speaking for the festival management, his attitude suggests the festival is well worth avoiding whatever your health or financial status.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,Silas
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 06:09 AM

No, I have no connection with festival management at all, and have never been to shrewsbury FF. However, some people need to get into the real world. How do you expect the festivals to pay the artists if no one wants to pay the going rate for a ticket? There are loads of things I would love but can't afford to buy, that's just the way life is, so stop whinging and just get on with it.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,DaveMc
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 06:12 AM

"for those who are unintentionally financially worse off, whether disabled, unemployed, student etc."

I hardly think students count as "unintentionally" anything. It is a lifestyle choice.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: John J
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 06:34 AM

I think you know what I meant.

I'm trying to be helpful to the OP, not start WW3.

JJ

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: Dave Earl
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 07:32 AM

It's not clear to me whether Shrewsbury organisers are contributing to this thread.

Are they represented here?

Dave

Who happens to be registered disabled and in receipt of DLA either of which might be considered as a Bench mark for concessions. IMHO that is

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,Silas
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 10:41 AM

OK. Why not then apply for stuarding duties and get tickets for free, just have to do a few hours door duty etc.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,PeterC
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 11:44 PM

It's not clear to me whether Shrewsbury organisers are contributing to this thread.
Is there any reason why the organisers of an English festival should be monitoring an American internet forum? Come to that why should they even be monitoring English forums?

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,selby
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 05:03 AM

Don't want to appear unchristian but i do work and can afford a shrewsbury ticket but getting to shrewsbury for me is a nightmare arranging cover at work and then paying people back for their time.
I have akso stopped going to another festival on the grounds of cost and therfore voted with my feet was anybody bothered I don't think so. There are plenty of little festivals and weekend gatherings all over the country, a fine example on another thread is Mrs Duck attempting to get a weekend together and good luck to her. The harsh reality of life is it costs X to get performers and infrastructure together and it is not as its a multi national is trying to screw you it is folkies doing a festival as a hobby for a lot of pain a job I certainly would not want.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: GUEST,Alan Surtees
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 08:38 AM

Shrewsbury Folk Festival does its very best to accommodate disabled visitors and judging by the number of disabled people attending the festival we must be succeeding on some levels. Purely based on observation we estimate that the festival attracts a higher proportion of disabled visitors than most other folk festivals. We have reserved seating for disabled members of our audience, we have specific camping areas for disabled visitors with appropriately designed loos, we charge scooter and wheelchair batteries overnight, free of charge, and our steward to visitor ratio is almost 10:1 with over 450 stewards on the festival site, including a good number of disabled stewards.

The actual cost of accommodating disabled visitors is marginally higher than that for able bodied attendees. Granted the concession is small, but as some other contributors to this thread have pointed out, we do have bills to pay. And that concessionary price remains constant during the whole period when tickets are on sale. When the early bird offer ends at the end of March the full price ticket increases by £15 making the concessionary ticket £20 cheaper than the full price.

One of the wonderful things about folk festivals is their diversity, large, small, traditional, contemporary, concert based or session based, some expensive, some not, but they are all pretty marvellous. They all reflect the enthusiasm and ambition of the people who run them. We aim to bring the best artists to Shrewsbury Folk Festival, some of them are famous, many are not, but we set our sites high, and we try to present them in the best possible way, and we try to bring them to as broad an audience as possible. Over 5000 people watched all of our main stage concerts free of charge last year. Our live internet broadcast was watched all over the world including large numbers in the UK.

We are not discriminating against disabled people and have to charge a realistic price for our tickets to cover our costs. We are a four day festival presenting the cream of the folk world for about £25 a day, this works out at about £2:00 an hour for those hours when performance is taking place. For that you get four sound stages, an immense dance marquee and over 190 separate events during the festival, a children's festival, youth events, workshops, lectures, sessions, free buses, pub sessions (three organised by the festival) showers and great toilets.

We are a small team who love folk music and care about providing good value for money and strive to provide an interesting programme on a site which is comfortable and safe for our visitors. We continually reassess all aspects of the festival and try to make improvements every year. No festival can be all things to all men or women but we do try.

All the Best

Alan

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury FF ticket price for disabled
From: Bounty Hound
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 08:34 PM

Well said Alan,

just to evidence the fact that festival organisers do care, having been a regular at Shrewsbury since the last two years of Bridgenorth, when financial circumstances changed for me with winding up my business four years ago, I contacted Sandra, Alans good lady,(who did not know me from Adam),at the eleventh hour, explained my circumstances, and asked if there was any chance of getting on the stewards list. In response, I recieved by return a stewards application and had so much fun that year that I have stewarded every year since.

And also to make a (possibly controversial) point, not all disabled people want to be set apart or treated any differently. We have a son for whom we recieve DLA and he certainly does not want to be seen or treated differently from his peers. That said, Shrewsbury provide excellent facilities for the disabled.

John