This guide has been commissioned by Without Walls to promote good practice amongst festivals and events that are involved in the network.

The guide has been devised by FESTIVAL.ORG, led by Alex Covell in her role as the Without Walls Access Advisor. FESTIVAL.ORG are widely recognised for their work in promoting inclusive practices and this guide provides an insight into how FESTIVAL.ORG addresses these priorities, particularly in their flagship annual production of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF). Each year GDIF presents a three-week festival across multiple sites in London.

This guide outlines how GDIF plans and delivers access provision across all of these various contexts and locations.

The guide is also intended to complement other existing resources such as the ISAN Access Toolkit. Originally developed in 2009, the ISAN (now Outdoor Arts UK) Access Toolkit broke new ground in promoting access and inclusion in the outdoor arts sector. It aims to complement that work by highlighting some of the innovations that have taken place in the decade since the ISAN Access Toolkit was first published.

We are looking to constantly adapt and offer best practice when working with disabled artists and audiences.

The guide has been reviewed and updated in January 2023 with the advice of Alex Covell and Nickie Miles-Wildin, the new Without Walls’ Access Consultant.