Shine Music Organizes Fully Accessible Music Festival

Concerts and music festivals are coming back in full force after having been put on hold for over a year, and fans around the world couldn’t be more excited. However, these types of live experiences are, unfortunately, not very accessible to people with disabilities. Virtual concerts and events have enabled wider access, but nothing quite compares to a live show.

Shawn Satterfield, Founder and President of Shine Music, noticed the lack of accessibility of live festivals and set out to build her own. She founded the non-profit organization in 2018 after seeing a video on social media of a little girl, who happened to be blind and autistic, connecting to the music being played by a busker in the UK.

“There was a moment where he placed her hand on his guitar,” explains Satterfield, “and she calmed, lifted her face up to the sun, and let out this smile that I immediately connected with. It's that smile you get when the energy from the music or the band or the stage connects with the audience, and this magic moment is created.”

The notion that music is not accessible for everyone deeply bothered Satterfield, even though “music has no barriers and has absolutely nothing to do with our outer shell. It’s a universal language,” she says.

Major concerts and festivals may have designated space for wheelchairs, for example, but Satterfield notes that it’s still a separated area, and that the 20 people who may be sitting in a row in wheelchairs didn’t come to the event together — they came with friends and family just like everyone else, but due to the limitations of the building and seating arrangements, they’re not able to sit and enjoy the event together.

When setting out to build Shine Music — which is putting on its first fully accessible event, the Shine Music Festival, on Sunday, August 8th at the Levitt Pavilion in Denver — Satterfield knew from the start that the event had to be free, since so many people with disabilities are unemployed. And after the financial difficulties faced by many people in 2020, this became even more important. “I just wanted to make sure that finances were not a reason why someone couldn't attend,” says Satterfield.

In planning the music festival, Satterfield and her team didn’t have any established protocol or template they could follow. They started by running through the attendee journey, from finding out about an event, to getting there, to everything they would do at the event itself. Then, they considered what the process would be like for people with different disabilities.

“For example, if I’m visually impaired,” says Satterfield, “what is that going to look like? Well, we’re going to be the world’s first concert with a T-shirt in Braille.” When considering mobility constraints, the Shine Music team evaluated the venue — which is an open-space venue without permanent seating — and determined that the lawn was very steep in certain places, which may cause issues. To address this challenge, they will be painting pathways on the entire lawn to indicate to attendees the easiest ways to get from point A to point B and keep the paths clear.

In addition, Satterfield is working with Full Body Sound and Feel the Beat, which will be providing their technology to allow people who are deaf or hard of hearing — or anyone else who would like to try them — to experience the music. There will also be a separate neuro diverse area, including a sensory bus, for anyone who may be overwhelmed and would like to step away from the crowds and music, as well noise cancelling headphones and fidget spinners that attendees will be able to rent.

When it comes to accessible events, Satterfield emphasizes the difficulty of considering different disabilities and providing necessary accommodations. “I think a lot of venues and music producers tend to become defensive, and this is not a diss on any of that. It’s tough, and I get it,” she says.

“What I do suggest is that every venue, whether it's a sporting venue, a music venue, etc. have a designated email so that if someone with a disability wants to come to one of their events, they could at least consider how they could accommodate the person. Maybe there’s someone who’s deaf who wants to utilize Full Body Sound, and there's no reason they can't connect to the soundboard.

“Especially at older venues, there's only so much you can do from a physical accessibility standpoint, but there's so much more they can do otherwise. I challenge them to not be defensive, but instead to think outside the box and think of how they can make their events more accessible for all.”