Accessibility

Inclusion is at the heart of Bristol Harbour Festival. We work with all our artists and teams to make each part of your festival experience accessible.

Here are contact details for any access related enquiries.
‍Access Email: access@proudevents.co.uk
‍Access Contact Number: 07503372169

Access Information

The festival takes place across different locations around Bristol’s Harbourside. Surfaces are a mix of hard-standing, permanent roads (including cobbles), and grass in College Green and Queen Square. There are steps and kerbs - 2025 festival site map will follow for more details.

There will be an Access Hub run by volunteers from Accessible Events at Millennium Square which will be open from 11am - 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, where there will be a dedicated Access team member here to answer any queries. All access-related items, such as disposable earplugs and queue jump wristbands, will be available at the Access Hub.

All of our sites:

Welcome Assistance Dogs but please make sure to clean any spending.
Chairs are exclusively available at accessible viewing areas.

Access Hub

The Access Hub will be a location of which you can ask any questions revolving our access provisions, including BSL programmed performances and gain more detailed information about the site facilities such as W/Cs, HDUs and accessible viewing areas. We will have large print menus for our onsite traders and the festival's performance lineups for customers to read at their disposal. We will provide disposable earplugs in this location, as well as having a hearing loop installed for those with hearing aids. Alongside our Hub will be our BSL socialising area for our BSL community that may need respite or to connect with other festival goers.

On Friday night, we'll be holding a Deaf Rave on the Expression Stage on Millennium Square.

Wellbeing Hub

The “Upper Reaches” wide-beam barge is back at the harbour festival and this year is hosting FREE ceramic art sessions during the festival as well as providing a wellbeing hub across the weekend. The barge will be moored in the Harbour Inlet opposite the SS Great Britain - Find us at what3words - ///encounter.wins.honest
The Hub's opening hours are as follows:Friday 18th July - 12pm - 6pm - Art Exhibition and Wellbeing HUB Open

Saturday 19th July -
10am - 6pm - Art Exhibition and Wellbeing HUB Open
11am - 1pm - Roses & Castles Ceramic Art Workshop ‘Drop In’
2pm - 4pm - Roses & Castles Ceramic Art Workshop ‘Drop In’

Sunday 20th July -
10am - 6pm - Art Exhibition & Wellbeing HUB Open
2pm - 4pm - Roses & Castles Ceramic Art Workshop ‘Drop In’

Toilets

The festival takes place across multiple locations around Bristol’s Harbourside. Surfaces include a mix of hard-standing and permanent roads (including cobbles), as well as grassed areas at College Green and Queen Square. Steps and kerbs are present throughout - a detailed 2025 festival site map will be provided soon.

Accessible toilets are available at every toilet block across the festival site. In addition, fully accessible Changing Places facilities (also known as High Dependency Units or HDUs) will be available at three key locations during their respective opening hours: Millennium Square (with Mobiloo), We The Curious, and Cabot Circus (10am–8pm).

British Sign Language

There will be BSL interpreters at the Harbour View Main Stage on both Saturday 19th July at 13:00 - 22:00 and Sunday 20th July at 12:00 - 19:00. There will also be interpreters at the Family Area at College Green on both Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th July 12:30 - 18:30.

Parking

Blue Badge holders may park in any on-street pay & display bay or council-owned car park without payment of parking charges in accordance with the terms of use for their blue badges.

Blue Badge holders may also park for free in any pay & display, limited waiting bays or permit holder bays.

Accessible viewing areas

There will be ground-level viewing areas for customers with access requirements across the festival sites. These will be stewarded and run on a first come first served basis, with limited seating. These will be located at:
‍
Cirque Bijou Presents (College Green)
Bristol Rising Stage (Queen Square)
Dance Tent (Queen Square, indoors)
Expression Stage (Millennium Square, indoors)

There will be a viewing platform (raised area at the back of Canons House) for the Harbour View Main Stage.

‍‍Mobility scooters

Bristol Shopmobility is based in Cabot Circus car park approximately 0.7 miles from Queen Square. It hires out a mixture of equipment including electric scooters and manual wheelchairs. Wheelchair power charging will be available at the amphitheatre accessible viewing platform. Up to five hours’ free parking in Cabot Circus car park is included with the hire of equipment. For full details and to book please visit www.bristolshopmobility.co.uk

Break out and quiet space

We will be offering Bristol Harbour Festival visitors with ASD safe and calming spaces during the festival weekend.

Getting Around

If you are planning to cover the whole site or just concentrate on one or two areas, the following distance may help in planning your day:

Main routes:

Queen Square to Millennium Square: 0.53 miles
Queen Square to College Green: 0.4 miles
Queen Square to Cathedral Walk: 0.5 miles
Queen Square to Amphitheatre & Waterfront Walk: 0.4 miles

Temple Meads Train Station to:

Queen Square: 0.68 miles

College Green: 1.22 miles

Millennium Square: 1.22 miles

Q-Jump Wristbands

This year, we’re implementing a queue jump system for those with access needs, as well as disposable earplugs and hearing loops. Those wishing to collect these can do so from the Access Hub during festival opening hours which you can find in Millennium Square.

The Access Hub staff will also be able to answer questions regarding BSL interpreted performances and other accessibility queries on site. You will be able to find an accessibility map and large printed menus detailing dietary offerings from festival traders at the Hub as well.

Get in touch

If you have a question or query about access at Bristol Harbour Festival please get in touch harbourfestival@proudevents.co.uk

If you’d like to volunteer with Accessible Events and join us during the weekend, please email volunteer@accessible-events.co.uk