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Eden Sessions

The Eden Project has earned an international reputation, not only for its biomes but also for hosting The Sessions, a series of creative and inspirational music events in the summer months. Having Eden as a world-renowned venue for live music is great news for Cornwall and The Sessions has played host to both major rock bands such as Muse and Snow Patrol and singer-songwriters like Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse.

The Eden team are committed to welcoming the most diverse range of people to the site and the Eden Sessions are no exception. Over the years Eden has worked with the Sensory Trust to make it possible for these amazing music events to be enjoyed by everyone.

Session goers enjoy the view from the wheelchair platform

This is no mean feat. The Sessions are attended by thousands of people and there are huge pressures on the site and staff to make sure it works for the mass as well as for a wide range of individual needs. It has meant looking in detail at every aspect of planning and running the events - pre-visit information, the arrival experience, catering, toilets, crowd control and safe departure. We have assessed the site for physical access and invited groups and individuals to the concerts to help us identify barriers that get in the way of a great experience.

The kinds of improvements that happened were increasing the size of the wheelchair accessible platform, positioning accessible toilets within easy reach of view points, providing areas with more room for families and groups, training staff in disability awareness and introducing hearing balloons so that people with hearing impairments can feel the music.

Eden staff has helped create an atmosphere that is supportive and non-threatening where visitors who may be unused to large groups of people and music concerts can enjoy an evening with some degree of independence. Many people have said they felt that staff understood their needs and that their presence was reassuring but not over-attentive.

A support worker who accompanied two young people with Aspergers Syndrome said: It was the first time the boys had been to Eden and they were blown away by the experience. We all really enjoyed the evening and it was wonderful to see the lads looking so happy and confident.

David Croft, who uses a powerchair, said: The Sessions are, in my opinion, the icing on the cake for Eden in the summer and the platform offers a superb viewing area for disabled people.

The Eden Sessions now offer an inclusive experience for eveyone to enjoy. But we are not resting on our laurels. Each year the diversity of the audience increases, as does the number of people using the viewing platforms, and we continue to receive valuable feedback of individual experiences at the Sessions to feed into future plans.

Vaughan Temby of Disability Cornwall said, "It has been a privilege to witness how the accessibility, and therefore the inclusiveness, of the Eden Sessions have consistently improved each year to now reach a level everybody involved should be proud of."