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Annual 10 Days Celebration of Robert Burns
Lots of gigs and shows on over this 10 day celebration,so I thought I’d brave a couple as I’m more confident accessing places in my wheelchair. I researched it well beforehand and was reassured that it was set up for wheelchair access and that there were ramps, accessible toilets etc.The first night a Friday was a shambles, it was jam packed, and you had to queue in the crowd which was impossible for me,to get your ticket checked.Staff weren’t coping. Access to the main Speigel Tent was through the crowds outside up a steep ramp, ticket collection was in another tent , no advice re this system on their social media updates or webpage. Where to access venue was confusing.The previous show was running over by an hour, so we could not access the gig venue.( this was 11 o clock at night) A member of staff stuck me in a corner and said they would come back but didn’t, and eventually another member of staff noticed and brought someone to help us. He was fantastic, and came back frequently to check we were ok.Once we were in the venue we did have an excellent view of the band , sound quality and atmosphere was excellent.Second visit on the Sunday was a vast improvement, we knew where to go. Staff approached right away and kept checking that we were ok, not as busy, so no one falling over me drunk, and we weren’t having to battle our way through crowds. The quality of the Bands etc they have playing make it special, we saw Skerryvore and Peat and Diesel in one weekend.I would go again, but maybe avoid a Friday and a Saturday night
Lots of gigs and shows on over this 10 day celebration,so I thought I’d brave a couple as I’m more confident accessing places in my wheelchair. I researched it well beforehand and was reassured that it was set up for wheelchair access and that there were ramps, accessible toilets etc.The first night a Friday was a shambles, it was jam packed, and you had to queue in the crowd which was impossible for me,to get your ticket checked.Staff weren’t coping. Access to the main Speigel Tent was through the crowds outside up a steep ramp, ticket collection was in another tent , no advice re this system on their social media updates or webpage. Where to access venue was confusing.The previous show was running over by an hour, so we could not access the gig venue.( this was 11 o clock at night) A member of staff stuck me in a corner and said they would come back but didn’t, and eventually another member of staff noticed and brought someone to help us. He was fantastic, and came back frequently to check we were ok.Once we were in the venue we did have an excellent view of the band , sound quality and atmosphere was excellent.Second visit on the Sunday was a vast improvement, we knew where to go. Staff approached right away and kept checking that we were ok, not as busy, so no one falling over me drunk, and we weren’t having to battle our way through crowds. The quality of the Bands etc they have playing make it special, we saw Skerryvore and Peat and Diesel in one weekend.I would go again, but maybe avoid a Friday and a Saturday night
