Britt Festivals Goes Above and Beyond Accessibility Requirements

Posted Jan 29, 2009 at 02:09 PM in General, Behind The Scenes

“I am very passionate about making Britt Festivals accessible to all patrons. People with disabilities or special needs might be a very small percentage of our audience, but they sure are the most appreciative,” says Julie Gurwell, Britt’s director of patron services. Julie has made it her mission to go above and beyond to make Britt Festivals fully accessible and provide a truly welcoming experience to all patrons on the Britt hill.

Being accessible and responsive to patrons’ needs starts from the ticket-buying process. Advance communication with Britt concerning your needs is very important. All requests go directly through Julie or Britt's Box Office Manager Marie Carbone and there is a process that they go through to make sure that they correctly understand each patron’s needs.

For example, this past summer Julie received a request from a patron who is hearing-impaired, asking for a sign interpreter for the Michael McDonald performance. Not a lot of us know that interpreting music and vocals requires a special set of skills and preparation. Julie arranged for a professional performance arts interpreter from Portland for this occasion. She saw this as an opportunity for other hearing-impaired patrons to partake in the Britt experience and contacted the Deaf Services of Southern Oregon. In the end, there were 14 hearing-impaired patrons who got to enjoy the Michael McDonald concert that normally wouldn’t be able to do so.

The biggest challenge at Britt is the fact that the venue is on a hillside. Assisting patrons with accessible parking, and informing patrons of the drop off area are a couple of solutions in meeting this challenge. Other solutions include providing assistance from the parking lot and continued training for volunteers and staff.

Britt does set aside seats in the reserved seating section for people with mobility and sight needs and also offers a wheelchair accessible area within the venue. Julie’s ultimate goal is to offer more accessible parking and constructing more ramps within the venue.

Britt is committed to providing superb service by treating all patrons with courtesy and attentiveness while complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and applicable state and local laws. If you have any suggestions or comments on things we can do better, please call Director of Patron Services Julie Gurwell at 541-779-0847 x 111 or email her through our contact us page.

~Posted by Krissy Rowan, Marketing Assistant, Britt Festivals

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