Access Guide READING FESTIVAL 2018
CONTENTS WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU ARRIVE... 2 ARENA OPENING TIMES... 3 TRAVEL TO SITE... 3 DISABLED ACCESS CAMPSITE CUSTOMERS... 4 RECYCLING... 6 ARENA... 8 VIEWING PLATFORM TERMS & CONDITIONS... 9 TO THE PERSONAL ASSISTANT AND CARER... 10 FEEDBACK... 10 READING SITE MAP... 11 1
WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU ARRIVE DISABLED ACCESS CHECK IN The Disabled Access Check-in Cabin should be the first place you visit when you arrive at Reading Festival, even if you are camping in our public campsites, as you will be unable to collect your access wristbands or PA tickets from anywhere else. We are based in front of the Rivermead Leisure Centre off Richfield Avenue. The Access Accreditation Team is based at the Disabled Access Check-in. They will have the information that you submitted before the festival in order to provide you with the correct wristbands for yourself and your party. Check out our exact location on the Reading Festival map inside this guide. You can access us by car or on foot. EARLY BIRD TICKET HOLDERS If you have an Early Bird ticket, you can access the campsites from 18:00 on Wednesday, 22nd. Please ensure you come to the Disabled Access Check-in before you go to your campsite. Please note, we cannot upgrade any tickets; if you arrive without the correct entry ticket you will be turned away. DISABLED ACCESS CHECK IN OPENING TIMES WEDNESDAY 22 ND August 16:00 21:00 THURSDAY 23 RD August 09:00 21:00 FRIDAY 24 th August 09:00 21:00 SATURDAY 25 th August 10:00 21:00 SUNDAY 26 th August 10:00 21:00 CHECK IN ID Only the access customer only will be asked to check in with us and will be asked to present ID. We are happy to accept photocopies of your ID if you would prefer not to bring it with you to the festival. If you do not have photo ID, we can accept 2 forms of paper ID with your name on. PA/CARER TICKETS To redeem your PA/Carer ticket, you need to check in with us upon arrival at the Disabled Access Check-in. DAY TICKET HOLDERS Day ticket holders will be allowed to check in from 10:00. Please note the Arena opening times below. 2
ARENA OPENING TIMES FRIDAY 14TH 11:00 03:00 SATURDAY 15TH 11:00 03:00 SUNDAY 16TH 11:00 03:00 TRAVEL TO SITE BY CAR: If you requested a car parking pass or a pick up and drop off pass, then you should have already received this. Follow the directions on the back of the pass. The pass was sent out via email so please look for an email from: noreplycarpass@festivalrepublic.com Please check all folders as sometimes they go into junk folders. Please do not go straight to the campsite. You must collect your wristbands first from Disabled Access Check-in first. BY CAMPERVAN: Please place your campervan pass in your vehicle so it is visible. The entrance is also via Richfield Avenue. Please do not go straight to the campsite. You must collect your wristbands first from Disabled Access Check-in first. BY TRAIN: Reading Train Station is a 15-20-minute walk from the festival site. The station has a step free ticket office and platforms can be reached via a lift. The station has 24 hour staff assistance, accessible toilets and Blue Badge Parking. Please visit the National Rail website for more information. BY TAXI: Accessible Taxis are available from Reading Train Station. Please ask staff for assistance and plan ahead. The main festival taxi pick up drop off point will be at Tessa Road, a short walk from the Disabled Access Checkin. Queues for taxis leaving site are often quite long, particularly on Sunday night so please consider booking a private hire. SHUTTLE BUS Shuttles run from Reading Train Station and Reading City Centre. Please visit the website for more information. The shuttle drop off point is located very close to the Disabled Access Check-in. Please refer to the map. 3
DISABLED ACCESS CAMPSITE CUSTOMERS Once you have checked in, you can make your way to our campsite where we have accessible toilets, accessible showers, an HDU unit and a charging tent for charging motor scooter chairs and medical equipment. We also have a hot food trader. We do ask that where possible, personal assistants, friends and family do not use the accessible toilets as they have a lower capacity. They will be able to use the Guest Campsite facilities next door to the Disabled Access Campsite. You will be able to enter the Arena via Piccadilly Circus. GAZEBOS & FIRE LANES Please respect that we do not allow gazebos into the Access Campsite. Our space is very restricted due to our location and proximity to the Arena. We want to be able to accommodate as many as access customers and their guests as possible, so please be mindful of the size tent you are bringing. Please do not camp in access or fire lanes. INFORMATION POINT Attitude is Everything work closely with Festival Republic to improve the D/deaf and disabled people s access to live music. They will be running the Information Tent in the Disabled Access Campsite. Pop in and say hello! CAMSPITE MANAGER Our Campsite Zone Manager will be the eyes and ears of the campsite. All campsites have a team of security and campsite assistant teams known as CATS, who report directly to the Campsite Manager. If you have any issues in the campsite, be it big or small, please report it to them. A member of the team will always be based around the Info Charging Tent. Please do not hesitate to ask them any questions or for advice on anything you are unsure of, they are briefed to be helpful. We encourage you to feedback any issues, good or bad to the Campsite Manager. Always try to note the tabard number of the person that dealt with you. LOCKERS Campsite lockers with USB charging points can be purchased for 20 from the check-in cabin ask the team at check in. These will be available on a first come first serve basis. 4
RIVERMEAD LEISURE CENTRE The Rivermead Leisure Centre is open to the public from Thursday at 11:00. They have accessible showering facilities; they charge 5.50 per customer but will allow the Carer/PA of the access customer in for free to assist the access customer. They will not allow whole parties or carers in on their own for free. SILENT DISCO There is an access customer entrance for all those with an accessible wristband - ask staff at the info tent. MEDICATION Cold storage for Medication is located in our Zone Manager Cabin in the Disabled/Guest Campsite. Please inform our staff should your require the use of this facility. HEARING LOOPS Hearing loops will be installed at Check-in and at the Alternative Stage. CHAIRS As a registered access customer you can bring your own chair into the arena. This is limited to one per access customer. READING APP The official app for Reading is available for free now on Apple and Android. BSL INTERPRETERS There will be BSL Interpreters preparing for the weekends performances, you can find them in their very own information tent located next to Arena Welfare. Pop in if you have any questions or you want to find out more. Our schedule will be communicated via the info tent and the APP. 5
RECYCLING GREEN READING Since 2007 Reading have participated in Creative Green Certification. This is an external assessment by Julie s Bicycle a charity who support the creative industries to act on climate change to measure our understanding, commitment, and improvement towards environmental sustainability. In 2017 we achieved an awesome four out of five stars and we won the Best Festival award at the Creative Green awards 2018! We could not have done any of this without your help, so a huge thank you to the environmentally conscious Reading community who participated in our initiatives. Read how you can get involved this year below: BECOME A RECYCLING CHAMPION When you get to the festival you will be given a clear and a green bag. When you bags are full bring them to the recycling point and sort them into the different materials, you can also grab more recycling bags from here. THREE BIN SYSTEM We run a three-bin system at the festival, which means every bin station will be formed by 3 bins: COMPOST When you buy food from the traders, everything your food comes in is compostable, so plates, cutlery and napkins can be placed in the compost bins along with the food scraps. Please make sure NO PLASTIC goes into the compost. RECYCLE Plastic bottles, aluminium cans, newspapers, magazines and clean and dry cardboard (no used greasy pizza boxes as these do not recycle). GENERAL WASTE There should be minimal left over that goes into General Waste. BIN YOUR BUTTS Every butt must be picked up by hand, so it would be awesome if you did not flick your cigarette and put it out before you bin it. 6
TAKE YOUR TENTS HOME We ask you to please take your tents and camping equipment home with you. If you leave it in the field it will most likely end up in landfill or incineration. If you have any broken or unwanted tents, chairs or gazebos, empty batteries, unopened tins of food, etc please take them to the Recycling Points and hand them to a member of the Green Team so that we can deal with it properly. 7
ARENA ARENA MANAGER Orange Dave is back this year ensuring that the Arena is running smoothly. At every viewing platform in the Arena, we will have a team of security and stewards. If you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask them as they are there to be helpful. Please report back any issues, good or bad, and try to note the tabard number of the person that dealt with you. If you are unable to locate a member of the Access Team, we advise locating a member of festival staff. They can always contact us on the radio, though there might be a slight delay getting to you during busier periods. VIEWING PLATFORMS We have wheelchair accessible viewing platforms at all stages. Please refer to the map in this guide for locations. Platforms operate on a first come first served basis so when they are full, we will operate a one in one out policy. Chairs are provided but please be aware we have a limited amount available. You can locate the viewing platform entrances by looking for the wheelchair symbol sign. WHEELCHAIR CHARGING All platforms have wheelchair charging points. If you unable to find them, please ask a member of staff to help. TOILETS We have wheelchair accessible and standard toilets at all of our platforms. These are for the use of our access customers only. Other party members where possible, should use the public toilets. SIGNING TENT We have a wheelchair accessible customer queuing lane. Band and artist signing is run on a first come first served basis you are not guaranteed access. Signing tent times will be featured on our campsite notice board and on the Reading App. READING APP The official app for Reading is available for free now on Apple and Android. LOWERED BARS All of our bars have wheelchair accessible counters. They are usually located at the end of each bar. Please lookout for the wheelchair symbol sign featured above the service point. 8
SUPERMARKET This year, Co-op will be the Festival Supermarket. It is wheelchair accessible. If you require assistance whilst in the store please ask a staff member. SEAT OF LUXURY Any access customer with an accessible toilet wristband will be permitted to use the Seat of Luxury service. VIEWING PLATFORM TERMS & CONDITIONS Platforms operate on a first-come, first-served basis. If they become full we operate a one-in one-out policy. Access is subject to our one-plus-one policy. PAs/Carers are welcome to use available seating howeve,r please vacate if a disabled customer requires a seat or you are asked to do so by a steward. Smoking is not permitted. This includes e-cigarettes. Some viewing platforms have power points for charging electric wheelchairs/medical equipment only. Please ask staff for details. Staff reserve the right to ask customers to leave the platform. Use of the platform implies acceptance of these conditions. STROBE LIGHTING, SPECIAL EFFECTS AND FIREWORKS MAY BE USED IN THE WEEKEND S PERFORMANCES. 9
TO THE PERSONAL ASSISTANT AND CARER Welcome to the festival, we just want to highlight a few points to help you enjoy your festival experience as a PA/Carer. Please note, whilst we want you to enjoy your time at Leeds, you are there to assist and accompany the person who chose you as their PA/Carer. Should it become apparent you are not carrying out this role, we have the right to eject you from the festival. What is expected of a PA/Carer: It is important you are willing and able to assist and help with the required needs of the person who chose you as their PA/Carer throughout the festival. You need to be available and able to help them in an evacuation or emergency. Tips for an enjoyable experience: Familiarise yourself with the facilities and campsite staff. If you encounter any problems, know you can contact the access team who will try to find a solution. Check the weather beforehand and wear appropriate clothing. FEEDBACK We value everyone s feedback good or bad. Your feedback helps to highlight areas where we can potentially improve our procedures, services and facilities. If you can spare some time once Reading Festival is over, then please feel free to send any feedback to us at access@readingfestival.co.uk 10
READING SITE MAP 11