The UK’s only inclusive festival for autistic people is back in Derbyshire this September, offering families a safe and welcoming place to play and explore.
Spectrum Autism Festival is set to take place at Lea Green Activity Centre near Matlock in Derbyshire on Saturday 13th September. 850 visitors from across the East Midlands are expected to take part in fun-filled activities designed with neurodivergent people in mind.
At the festival, adults and children can take part in a variety of activities from pony rides to zip wires, from climbing walls to arts and crafts. Sensory areas and quiet spaces are available for people who find crowds and loud noises overwhelming and the site is wheelchair accessible.
Derbyshire parent Gemma Hall founded Spectrum Autism Festival so families like hers could enjoy a day out together in an inclusive environment, after repeatedly struggling to find a place where her autistic children could play and be themselves.
“There’s nothing like the Spectrum Autism Festival anywhere else in the country. There aren’t many places where autistic people are free to be their true selves in spaces created specifically for them.”
The organisers have partnered with visual communication experts Widgit whose powerful visual language helps people with special needs and disabilities to communicate by using symbols. With Widgit, each symbol represents a word or concept which can be put together to create a visual sentence.
At the festival all signage will feature Widgit Symbols so everyone can find their way around the site and join in the activities or find the quiet spaces. Staff will be given lanyards to wear around their necks with visual Widgit Symbols to represent words and phrases, such as ‘toilet’, ‘food’ or ‘help’ so visitors who struggle to communicate verbally can point to what they need.
Rebecca Lynch, education specialist at Widgit, said: “We are proud to welcome Spectrum Autistic Festival as the first official Symbol-Friendly festival in the UK. It is great that more autistic people can enjoy a fun, family day out.”
Spectrum Autism Festival joins a fast-growing network of Widgit Symbol-Friendly Organisations, which includes transport networks and tourist attractions.
For more information on the symbols and resources Widgit has developed for families, and to sign up for a free trial of its software for creating symbols, visit www.widgit.com.
For tickets and more on Spectrum Autism Festival, visit www.ticketsource.co.uk/spectrumderbyshire
About Widgit
For over 40 years, Widgit has developed innovative symbols and software used in over 10,000 schools, thousands of homes and multiple healthcare and leisure settings to support language, communication and learning. Widgit Symbols are increasingly being used to ensure key public services, local attractions and sporting venues are inclusive for children and adults with special needs. For more information, visit: www.widgit.com.
