Overview

This is a review of the Shania Twain concert at Stirling Summer Sessions, which took place in Stirling City Park at the base of Stirling Castle. It also featured other artists such as Rag'n'Bone Man and Delta Goodrem. I have to say, I really enjoyed the concert. Overall, the organisers and DF concerts showed a really good understanding and effort towards accessibility. When we first arrived at the venue, we were slightly later because we had had to navigate road closures on the way to the venue. I have to say that, although this couldn't be avoided, it was very bad organisation on the part of the roads department because it made getting to the concert a lot more difficult. Before we got to the concert, the venue organisers had sent us an accessibility guide with different pointers in it on how to get the most out of the concert, which I thought was a really good idea. They had advised us to use the app What Three Words, which gives three-word coordinates to different places that you maybe haven't visited before. So we used this to find the accessible parking, which was actually 18 minutes away from the main venue itself. The parking was on grass in a sort of field area. I have to say that this was quite difficult terrain to get over. But they had laid out a kind of temporary path by using a kind of rafia material that they usually put down on an accessible beach walkway. So once I got onto that surface, I was alright. But it was a struggle to get over the grass.  In terms of getting into the venue, the stewards that were in the parking lot guided us to our space, which was good. We then had to go to the accessible ticket box office to claim our access response from the cashier, and then we were directed how to get onto the wheelchair platform. We had quite a good view from the wheelchair platform.  Although I have to say that there were quite a lot of people on the platform, to some extent, it might have been slightly overcrowded.  The concert itself was brilliant, and we had a really good time. They also had volunteers from the Strathcarron Hospice, which is based in Falkirk, to assist people on the accessible platform with getting food, getting drinks, and avoiding the queues. and being able to enjoy the concert, they also helped to get merchandise from the merchandise stores. A lady brought photographs on her phone of the different merchandise and let me choose what I wanted to buy. I then gave her my card, which was contactless, to use on the stall. So yeah, that was a really good experience. I have to say a massive thank you to all the volunteers that got involved; they made a huge difference to our experience. They also had the Pamiloo available for anyone who needed a Changing Places facility next to the accessible platform, which was really positive as well. One thing that I would say could be improved for next year is that the crowd management, both going in and out of the concert venue itself, was really badly managed and could really be improved with more stewards and more people helping to guide concert goers because that can sometimes be quite overwhelming. If you're, for example, a wheelchair user or have limited mobility, and you're trying to fight your way through the crowds, At one point, I had to struggle at the end of the concert to get to the accessible toilet because people just kept filling the space.  As fast as my friends created the space, people would just walk into it. So I really struggled on the way out. The other thing that could really be improved was the kind of shielding of the parking on the way out. People were driving all over the place, trying to find a way out. Some people were just sitting with their engines running; this was really kind of nerve-wracking. Because people were at one point driving onto pedestrian walkways, I had to move from the pedestrian walkway onto the grass in order to get back on to the walkway further down, which then made my journey quite difficult because I struggled to get back up onto the platform and had to be helped by two members of the crowd. And then I eventually managed to get back over to my car, amongst people running their engines and generally getting quite upset at the fact that they couldn't move. So yeah, I definitely think that that is something that could be managed better in years to come. But overall, I would say the event organisers made a good attempt at trying to cater for people with accessibility needs. They have sent a feedback survey to both people who attended the event and people who didn't attend the event to get feedback. So I have to say that is a really positive step forward.

Transport & Parking

Due to being in the middle of a field which is difficult to navigate in an electric wheelchair and poor parking management on the way out

Access

Mainly due to poor management at the beginning and at the end of the concert

Toilets

Thanks to the Pamiloo being provided

Staff

Thanks to the volunteers from the Strathcarron Hospice