By Mya McPhee

Can you imagine missing out on tickets for your favourite artist’s concert, only to find out that the reason you can’t go is simply because you weren’t considered when the venue was built? Or because the prices for tickets have become so extortionate in recent years that you can’t feasibly pull together the money for tickets? Sadly, this is the reality for many people across Scotland.

Despite 47% of Scottish people strongly agreeing with the statement “culture and the arts make a positive difference to my life”, exorbitant costs and major accessibility issues within venues and ticket sellers hold many people back from having the experience of live events.

According to the Scottish governments most recent statistics, 69% of people attended a cultural event/location in 2023, mostly live music events (36%) and historic sites (33%). Attending live performances, visiting historic landmarks, attending plays, musicals and sporting events can be extremely beneficial to individuals, as 59% of people who attended a concert, play, place or event of cultural importance were found more likely to report good health than those who did not attend any live performances or visit any cultural landmarks.

However, in recent years many people have missed out on this incredibly beneficial experience due to ticket prices for live events increasing, According to S&P Global there has been a 20% increase in ticket prices in 2023 alone. This, combined with the current cost of living crisis in the UK, is making these events less and less accessible for people in low-income households, this is evident in a recent from YouGov that shows that 57% of people across the UK can’t or won’t go to theatre due to high ticket prices.

According to YouGov at the end of 2023 82% of people in social grades C2, D, and E reported that they hadn’t been to a theatre event in the last 3 months, this is 12% higher than when compared to those in higher social grades (A, B, and C1). This shows that people are missing out due to lack of funds or simply being able to take time off.

Cultural event attendance is highest among adults with no disabilities who live in the 20% least deprived areas.

This suggests a major accessibility issues. According to the Research Institute of Disabled Consumers, 50% of consumers with disabilities faced issues when booking or attending a live event (such as music, theatre or comedy events). The major complaints included not being able to book accessible seats online -instead having to phone in and wait in lengthy queues, which could cause issue with concerts and events that have fast selling tickets- or logging on to buy a ticket for a show only to discover that accessible seats simply weren’t offered at the venue whatsoever. Another major issue that comes up often for people with disabilities is the lack of disabled toilets in venues, either they aren’t provided or are difficult to access during a show/event.

The lack of accessibility for people with disabilities or low income in theatre and other live events needs to be improved, especially considering that over 50% of people living in Scotland are living with a disability. If things don’t change half the country will be facing additional challenges and will be missing out on events that everyone should be able to experience.

Accessibility is something that can only be fixed by consulting the people that are affected, nobody should lose out on opportunities because of disabilities, social grades or lack of funds, and all Scottish people should be able to have the experience, and gain the societal and emotional benefits, of large-scale live events.

We need more accessibility in live events