Overview

I visited Southampton Pride during a visit 'down South'. It was my first Pride, so I wasn't too sure what to expect. What I found was brilliant: it was a fully accessible venue, laid out over an open street plan with grassy areas to sit and accessible toilets. All grassy areas had edgings around them, but they also had ramps situated at strategic points to ensure wheelchair users could access the grassy areas for some sun worshiping (it was a cracking day!). The main stage (the only stage I visited, so I can't comment for others) had a BSL interpreter for all acts and interim crowd entertainers, it seemed to be the same BSL interpreter all day though so I'm sure she must've been exhausted by the end of it! The ramps, coupled with the provision of accessible toilets and Mobiloo being on-site made for an extremely enjoyable experience. The only reason I've not given it 5-stars is because some of the steps didn't have highlights on them so, as a visually impaired person, I sometimes found it a bit challenging navigating those. Overall it was a fantastically enjoyable experience where everyone, no matter who you were or what your story was, was made to feel welcome.

Transport & Parking

I don't know about parking as I don't drive, but there were bus stops within a 2-minute walk of the location and a train station (Southampton Central - or 'So Proud Central' as it was called that day) less than a 10-minute walk away. It's worth a shout-out to Southampton City Council here, all busses had a fully functioning audible announcement function on board, meaning that I knew exactly where I was and I knew exactly when my stop was coming up. Southampton is the first city I've seen this work well in.

Access

Thre were ramps situated at strategic points to allow wheelchair users to navigate and there was also good signage throughout. All relevant information was available on the website before hand, which I found relatively accessible. I would've liked to have seen more attention paid to marking out areas for VI attendees to navigate, such as on stairs and around edgings. The main stage had a BSL interpreter for all acts but there was no audio description available, as far as I knew, but this didn't really distract from the feel of the day at all.

Toilets

There was a mobiloo on site, available via a ramp on the lower level of the park area. there was also an accessible porta-loo with a ramped entrance and a fairly large space. What I really liked was that all other toilets ('non accessible' toilets, for want of a better word) were unisex, therefore I didn't have to worry whether I was going into the right one or not. A great bonus for a blind / VI person!

Staff

When I arrived at the festival my friends and other-half were already inside, as I'd been to visit other friends before joining them. When I asked the staff to help me find them, it wasn't an issue and they stayed with me until I could find my group. All staff were also very supportive when finding toilets and refreshments.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

It's worth noting, for GDOs and other assistance dog owners, that there's an abundance of both concrete and grass areas within this zone, so spending for dogs is relatively easy. However, it's big and noisy, so perhaps not the best environment to take a dog to - but I'm more than sure it'd be made welcome by fellow festival goers!

Photos