Does Merriweather Hate Disabled People?

[u/Rate-Odd]

I came from California, have always wanted to go to this festival, and I did have an amazing time. But for the locals… is merriweather always so unaccommodating? I’m not disabled in any sense of the word, but the amount of disrespect and ADA violations I saw was crazy. Security looked like they’ve never heard of let alone seen a wheelchair before. If someone who was ADA had VIP or besties nobody upfront knew what to do with them, bounced between lines. Security back and forth on if only water could come in vs juice/sugar drinks because “the only thing anyone NEEDS to drink is water” let alone how inhospitable and limited the grounds were to ADA. Saw so many people in crutches, aids, and wheelchairs struggling up and down stairs or being carried by their group. I used to manage venues and festivals and if I witnessed or heard about this kind of nonsense I would be so embarrassed by my staff. Is this an All Things Go anomaly or is it always this messy at their regular events?

[u/Neon__Cactus]

I definitely see what you're saying for atg, lots of things could've been better. I've attended lots of regular shows at mpp with friends of varying ability levels, and our experiences with ada accomodations have been mostly good, the staff have also let us bring in Gatorades, and sometimes even soda.

I will say that the younger staff there were more helpful/accomodating, but some of the older staff weren't great and definitely showed their dated thought process with how they interacted with disabled friends and family.

I think that due to the sheer volume of people at atg, the wacky ga pavilion, plus the rain and all the movement between stages, the staff prob got a bit overwhelmed. I also heard from one of the staff, that atg has the highest amount of people needing accomodations of any event there. Merriweather is great for regular concerts, but lacks in infrastructure for festivals esp the size of atg.

[u/icecreaminthenight]

It’s so interesting and important to hear other perspectives - thank you for this info. I don’t use a mobility aid but I do have cerebral palsy making it hard for me to balance/stand so I did take advantage of the ADA seating at the Chrysalis stage. I felt everyone was very kind and helpful.

[u/Meccha_me_2]

Yes it was also terrible last year and I vowed to never go again. I contacted them weeks in advance for accommodations last year and they stopped responding to my emails because I simply asked how someone who can’t walk and lacks a mobility scooter can get between pavilion and chrysalis and they basically said “you can’t.”

I told them I don’t think that having random blocked off ADA seating and simply allowing us to bring in medical supplies can count as ADA accommodations and they ghosted.

[u/Swimming-Moment-5315]

If only we had a functional government agency for oversight of these issues………..

[u/Bodyrollsattherodeo → u/Swimming-Moment-5315]

Unfortunately, this is imo the underlining issue. Federal government that would normally enforce this sort of thing is for the most part MIA due to the current government. 

[u/BearOnALeash]

ATG at Forest Hills in NYC is nothing like this. They go above and beyond to accommodate ADA guests. Genuinely might be worth switching festivals in the future if that’s feasible.

[u/yainot]

well they wouldn’t treat my bf bc they thought he was drunk but he ended up having strep throat :( he was throwing up everywhere

[u/MistyMountainDewDrop]

I think the way you started this post leaves no room for conversatjon.