Feedback helps us define and support what you want; it helps the festival organisers who may be feeling not sure what to provide, and it should help any workers, visitors and performers to the festival. Whether it is festivals that GAMA are involved with or ones that are not, it does not matter  - as what the festival should be providing is reasonable access for all. We are happy to get involved with any outdoor events.

Here’s some of the feedback we have received so far:

“We went to Sunrise with GAMA with my son who has recently been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. I can’t thank you enough, we would never have been able to go to a Festival normally due to Leo’s intolerance of noise and people in general. The GAMA camp provided a safe place for him and for the first time he was able to play with other kids, who are generally much more accepting and tolerant.”

Get in touch & let us know your thoughts on Gama, festivals – anything you like! Leave us a comment below or drop us an email.

Strobe lighting can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy. Of all persons who have been diagnosed as epileptic, between three and five percent are known to be of the photosensitive type (approximately two people per 10,000 of the general population). Often persons with PSE have no history of seizures outside of those triggered by visual stimuli. Females are more commonly affected than males and children are about twice as sensitive as adults.

Although the flash rate of strobe lights is restricted to four flashes a second by the Health and Safety Executive, some people with photosensitive epilepsy may still find strobe lights could trigger a seizure.

If you are a sufferer of Photosensitive Epilepsy and strobe lighting, or other flashing or flickering lights come on without warning, you should immediately cover one eye with the palm of your hand and turn away from the light.

Festivals without Strobe Lighting

• Small World Festival have confirmed that they never use strobes – www.smallworldsolarstage.org

Do strobe lights affect you or do you have any thoughts on the subject?
Let us know in the comments below!

After many phone calls, negotiating, chatting to people and using our common sense, we can now confirm that padlocks can be bought from the RADAR lock manufacturers that will fit onto a normal hasp & clasp to go on portable toilets (portaloos).

This will enable all festivals and outdoor events to have RADAR locks on their portable toilets, ensuring that the wide access toilets are only used by those people that need to use them – and not by any one who should not be using them…

The padlocks are quite chunky and need a “space” of at least 1cm (so the small staple type device on each side of the door are not big enough). They can be opened by the normal RADAR key that most people with disabilities have, and this would stop the abuse of these toilets by people who are not disabled and should not be using them.

Large notices would need to be put on the toilet to say this is a RADAR padlock, so people know it can only be accessed by those with the keys.

Like anything that is new, do try them out first and check they work for your event. If you are a festival organiser do get one in advance and check them with your portaloo provider…

The padlocks are £15.96 each & the keys are £2 plus P & P. They can be bought from:

N & C Ltd,
41 – 51 Freshwater Road,
Chadwell Heath,
Romford,
Essex.
RM18 1SP

The man to speak to is Graham Hardwell, phone number 020 8586 4600.

They can be purchased by festival organisers or by portable wide access toilet suppliers, as long as the hasp and clasp is already attached to the toilet…….. Extra keys can be bought to give to the cleaning staff.

You are welcome to pass this information on to any other festival organisers and portaloo suppliers that you deal with.

Another First!

We can also announce that Shambala has said that it will provide the locks on all their wide access toilets at the 2009 festival.

Festivals & Organisations Involved with GAMA

Croissant Neuf – Family friendly fun.
Sunrise Festival – the off-grid, eco friendly sustainable festival.
Big Green Gathering – the worlds premier award winning festival.
Out Of The Ordinary Festival – 3 day eco & family friendly festival set in the beautiful Sussex countryside celebrating the Autumn Equinox.
Glade Festival – the UK’s best open air electronic music festival.
Waveform Festival – partying dosen’t have to cost the earth.
Glastonbury Festival – no need for further explanation.
Shambala Festival – Shambala is known as the festival goer’s festival.
Green Gathering – The 2011 Green Gathering promotes and platforms sustainable lifestyles.

Bands & Music

Unity & Devision – the punkfolk/ska four-piece from London serving up bitter-sweet lyrics with music that’s raw, edgy and ringing with heartfelt harmonies…
Heavy Load – Brighton’s answer to The Ramones. A punk outfit subject to the combustible flux of ego, ambition, fantasy, expectation and desire that fuels any emerging band. But they’re also uniquely comprised of musicians with & without learning disabilities.

Disabled Companies

The Wheel Life Guide – A directory of information on all leisure and lifestyle activities for the wheelchair user.

Information

Permanently Seated – Information resource for green-field event goers that need that bit more help.
Stay Up Late – The Stay up Late Campaign is run by Heavy Load. Lots of people come to our gigs, but they cannot stay out late to watch us. They have to go home early because their staff finish work at 10pm. We think people with a learning disability have the right to stay up late and have some fun!
Festivals For All – Fantastic site packed full of info and resources for festival goers.