Overview

We were kindly invited back to this yearly festival in Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Futures Institute to attend an event for author Denise Mina and to see what the accessibility is like within the festival.

Transport & Parking

I would not recommend driving into the city centre of Edinburgh during the month of August because as well as the International Book Festival, there is also the Fringe and Tattoo happening. If you do drive there isn’t any designated parking for the International Book Festival but the closet parking is the Q-Park Quartermile. I parked at the Ingliston Park & Ride, then I got the tram to West End as I feel it is usually quieter walking from here instead of along Princes Street. Although it is harder to get back on the tram at West End because everyone has already tried to get on at the Princes Street stop. With the Edinburgh International Book Festival taking place right in the city centre of Edinburgh there are a lot of ways to get here by public transport. Waverley Railway Station is about a 15-minute walk. I’m not from Edinburgh so I don’t know what the local bus routes are but I saw lots of bus stops near the Edinburgh Futures Institute that you can get.

Access

We entered the grounds of the Edinburgh Futures Institute from the back at the side closet to the National Museum, this is where you can find the Box Office. It was very warm during our visit so the doors were open so it was easy to enter however, the doors do have to be opened manually so if they were closed a wheelchair user may struggle to open them. Having a doorbell outside the door might be useful because then someone can alert staff that they need help. Inside the Box Office there are two desk areas where you can speak to staff. One is lower down to allow wheelchair users to easily speak to staff. You enter the Edinburgh International Book Festival courtyard from the same side that the Box Office is situated on, it is just a little further along. You will see a screen above the entrance to welcome visitors. There is also an accessible entrance/exit in the middle of the outer area of the courtyard so that people don’t have to walk too far to get in and out, you can see this in an image below. Within the courtyard there are lots of picnic benches to sit at, food trucks and a bar. These are all nicely spaced out so wheelchair users can get around easily, although the food vans are quite high so wheelchair users may struggle to place their order. There are 4 wheelchair accessible picnic benches for visitors but I do feel these need to be more easily sign posted because people were just putting box seats in the wheelchair space to use the benches. Again, because it was a nice day the doors to the Edinburgh Futures Institute were open so it was easy to enter as a wheelchair user. Straight ahead when you enter is Venue T which is where we went to see the author Denise Mina. We were here in this venue space last year as well but I feel our seats this year were better. We sat in the wheelchair spaces in the middle last year but, this year we were sat at the left-hand side facing the stage and was able to easily see the author and presenter through the aisle between the chairs, see the image below. We visited the Book Nook whilst we were at the festival and I booked this free for us through our contact at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. This event space is up on level 1 and is an area that anyone can book for free for an hour to catch-up and discuss books or anything they wish. It seats comfortably 10 people and you are allowed to bring food and drink into the area. I would say that due to the end of the Book Nook having floor to ceiling windows it can get pretty warm but, furniture can easily be moved around to allow space for wheelchair users and there are a couple of tables that are a good height for wheelchair users. When you book into the Book Nook you receive a 10% off voucher for the bookshop that is located at the entrance to the Edinburgh Futures Institute. I visited the bookshop near the end of the evening and it was still quite busy. There is a ramp going up to the bookshop and a slight bump to get over the doorway which you can see below. The checkout area is at a standard height for a checkout and I would say it’s pretty spacious to get into. Even though the bookshop was busy it was easy to get around. Whilst I didn’t visit it for a long period of time, whilst I was exploring I came across the Quiet Room. I’m not sure if you book this area the same way as the Book Nook but it was a very spacious area.

Toilets

There is a portable Changing Places toilet outside the Box Office of the festival that is provided by MobiLoo. It is very spacious inside and equipped with everything that is needed for it to be used for its purpose. I couldn’t see anyone around looking after the facilities and I don’t think you had to open it with a RADAR key. I also can’t remember seeing a sign to say where you can get a RADAR key if you don’t have one. Inside the Edinburgh Futures Institute there are plenty of accessible toilets for visitors to use and it was great to see on the outside of the doors they had stickers to indicate whether it is a right-hand or left-hand transfer to the toilet. All the accessible toilets had different options so there should be something that was accessible for everyone. Also I came across accessible toilets where you open the door different ways which is accessible for different visitors. One door you push open, one door you pull open and one you pushed a button for it to open automatically. The first two types of doors can be found beside Venue T on the ground floor and then the other type of door can be found on level 1 beside the Book Nook. All the accessible toilets are different sizes as well, but it’s only the Changing Places toilet outside beside the Box Office that is equipped with a hoist. Also on the female and male toilets there was a sign to say there are gender neutral toilets also available which is good.

Staff

All staff that I interacted with during my visit were very friendly and helpful with anything that we needed. It was good that they were recognisable because they wore bright orange t-shirts, so you knew who to go to for help. We also spoke to Lisa who is the Access Officer at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and she was very welcoming with the accessible feedback that we provided.

Photos