The Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Euan's Guide have teamed up to offer free tickets to Fringe events in exchange for accessibility reviews of venues
Edinburgh Festival Fringe has joined up with disability access charity Euan’s Guide in a bid to improve the festival for disabled people.
The Fringe is offering free tickets to Euan’s Guide reviewers in exchange for a review on the accessibility of the venue.
Described by author Ian Rankin as "Trip Advisor with wheels on!", Edinburgh-based Euan’s Guide is used by thousands of disabled people, their families and friends to rate the accessibility of the places they visit across the UK.
In the past, Euan’s Guide has run Just Ask Disability Awareness Workshops and recognised accessible Fringe venues with its Edinburgh Festival Fringe Award.
Highly commended venues have included DanceBase, The Scottish Storytelling Centre, Grassmarket Community Project and Fringe Central.
This year the Fringe is going further and working with Euan’s Guide to listen to what audiences, performers and the wider community think about accessibility at the festival’s venues in Edinburgh.
Local and visiting disabled people can request free tickets to a show of their choice in return for submitting a disabled access review of their experience.
Euan MacDonald, co-founder of Euan’s Guide, said: “We’re lucky to have the world’s largest arts festival on our doorstep and have watched how the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has made improvements to its access and inclusion over the last few years.
“A dedicated access team, pop-up Changing Places toilet at the centre of the festival and new sensory backpacks have been stepping stones to the Fringe becoming a truly world-class festival. I look forward to reading disabled access reviews from reviewers new and old who are attending the festival this year.”
Lyndsey McLean, community engagement and access manager at Edinburgh Festival Fringe said: “Improving access at the Fringe continues to be a key priority for the Fringe Society. We work year-round to support Fringe venues through our Venue Access Award and ensure that accurate information about venues is made available to the public.
“In 2018 we are delighted to be introducing sensory backpacks for autistic audience members at the Virgin Money Street Events for the first time, supported by Edinburgh Tourism Action Group through the Festivals Tourism Innovation Fund. We’re delighted to continue working with Euan’s Guide on improving access across the Fringe, their reviews provide crucial feedback on the work that venues are doing to improve access, as well as highlighting areas where more work needs to be done.”
Information about festival accessibility and how to request reviewer tickets can be found at www.euansguide.com/edfringe.
