In the run up to HebCelt 2025, we are going to be running a series of Blog take-overs.

For the first blog in this series, you will hear from Michelle who will be talking all about what Accessibility at the festival means to her.

It’s October 2023 and the ticket lines open for Hebcelt 2024, the mad rush for weekend tickets had begun. I, as every year, being a last minute type of person didn’t quite get round to buying mine and soon we were heading towards Christmas. Like many others I spent the festive period with aches and pains from the rushing around, lifting and moving boxes and stretching to put up decorations. One particular pain in my ribs was constant and eventually I had to seek medical attention, then came the onslaught of tests, antibiotics and more tests, again festival tickets were put to the back of my mind.

Now we’re in February, and one morning I had woken up having had the most weird dream. I was in one of the local pubs watching James play live, there was a hole in the roof, so that section of the pub was empty as the rain was pouring through it, soaking anyone that stood underneath. It was such a completely random dream, but apart from James being one of my all time favourite bands I didn’t pay it much attention. A couple of nights later as I was scrolling through facebook, I came across a post from Hebcelt announcing their latest line up, I nearly spat my coffee out when I read James, wow, was I really reading this? That’s it I need to pull my finger out and get some tickets purchased.

I still hadn’t recovered from the illness that had started late in December, so hadn’t been feeling well at all. I had gotten to the stage where I was very breathless, had to use portable oxygen and couldn’t walk very far, so began wondering how I would manage to get to the festival. Shortly after this I had a diagnosis of a terminal illness, after the initial shock my outlook to life changed. I didn’t have a prognosis so had to make the most of the there and then. I remembered my dream from February, it was an oman I had to get those festival tickets.

As never having to use a wheelchair before I wondered whether it would actually be possible to attend, whether I’d be able to get around the site and what facilities there would be, so jumped onto the Hebcelt website and found that they had very good accessibility information pages. I discovered that not only could I purchase a concession ticket, I could also get a free carer ticket so I was able to have someone with me. The information also told me how I could book accessible parking and access to the viewing platforms.

The festival was still three months away and I didn’t know what condition I would be in by July, however I still bought the ticket and booked everything else that I needed to.

July came and so did festival weekend. I had started some treatment and was determined to go, we had luckily managed to get the wheelchair parking where we were greeted by helpful staff who were more than happy to help get my electric wheelchair out of the car and make sure we had everything that we needed. Little did we know that we only had to go literally 2 meters to the accessibility platform for the main tent, this was a raised area to the left of the stage and had great views.

There was a lovely MacMillan team there to help us get in with the wheelchair or to the general seats depending on suitability for us, they even had blankets for us should we get cold as the sun went down. Just outside the tent were ample wheelchair friendly toilets that were clean and tidy. There was access from the main tent to the second tent via a backstage road with the MacMillan team again on hand to escort people.

Having taken my electric wheelchair I was able to get around most of the site, only crashing a few times and getting stuck in the mud twice, but there were plenty of volunteers in hi vis that were happy to bail me out.

Being a first time wheelchair user and not knowing what to expect when attending, I was pleasantly surprised how easy I found it, which made for a very enjoyable festival. A massive thank you to all of the staff and volunteers who make this amazing festival happen.

Best wishes, Michelle

Find out more about Accessibility at HebCelt here https://www.hebceltfest.com/festival/accessibility

Picture - Michelle and her Niece Libby Grace at HebCelt 2024