A logo for "J-Fest" featuring a stylized illustration of a person's face with the text "Bass Therapy" above it. The logo is set against a dark background with vibrant, electric colors and a triangular border with a neon glow effect.

Revolutionising Festival Accessibility

Discover how Bass Therapy streamlined the booking process for J-Fest, making it one of the most accessible and inclusive festivals in the UK. By integrating innovative solutions for accessible ticketing, glamping, and special educational needs, Different Breed helped J-Fest set a new standard for accessibility in the events industry.

Introduction to Bass Therapy and J-Fest

Bass Therapy is a trailblazer in making the events industry more inclusive, with J-Fest as their flagship festival, dedicated to the memory of Kyley Dickson's sister, Jody. J-Fest pushes the boundaries of what festivals can offer disabled event-goers, providing everything from discounted tickets for special educational needs (SEN) to fully inclusive glamping options.

Features Used

  • Ticketing

  • Add-ons

  • Access Control

  • Accessibility Engine

  • Access Passports

  • Access Card

  • Digital Tickets

  • Check In

Bringing Accessible Tickets Online & Into Self Service

A group of people, including a child and an adult, dance while wearing headphones at a silent disco. The adult wears a colorful poncho and has glitter on their face, smiling and enjoying the moment. Other participants are visible in the background, also wearing headphones with illuminated lights, creating a vibrant atmosphere.
Photo provided by Bass Therapy, © DJ Oli

Challenge

J-Fest's previous process involved application forms, emails, and phone calls, which was overwhelming their small team, leading to delays in ticket allocation and a sub-optimal experience for disabled individuals. This cumbersome approach threatened to limit the festival's ability to provide timely and equitable service to all attendees.

Solution

By utilising our cutting-edge accessibility engine, J-Fest was able to seamlessly integrate their full range of accessible offerings into an online, self-service platform. This shift eliminated the need for outdated, manual processes and fully automated the ticketing aspect of the event. As a result, the J-Fest team now has more time to spend on bringing great independent artists to the festival, while knowing that customers will have an efficient and smooth booking experience. By utilising our cutting-edge accessibility engine,

Streamlining Ticketing For Complex Offerings

Challenge

Selling their customisable glamping options, such as raised profile beds and medical fridges would require manual forms or processes outside the standard booking flow. This made the customer experience confusing and complicated, which increased abandonment and meant that disabled attendees might miss out.

Solution

J-Fest made use of Different Breed's add-ons feature that integrates the accessible glamping options directly into the booking process. This allows customers to easily select and customise their camping experience in real-time, without needing additional, offline support from the J-Fest team. The outcome was a resounding success with all accessible tents sold out in less than 48 hours.

Increasing Attendance with SEN Support

Challenge

J-Fest was struggling to efficiently offer and track discounted tickets for individuals with special educational needs who require carer schedules and are unable to attend for more than a few hours. The process of allocating tickets manually within a system was a large burden on the team leading to a limited number of tickets being available.

Solution

By leveraging Different Breed's support for SEN tickets and our promo codes feature, J-Fest are now able to provide SEN organisations with simple to redeem codes for discounted tickets. This has significantly reduced administrative time for the team and provides the freedom and flexibility to partner with organisations and drive even more disabled individuals to their festival.

Ensuring Fair Access with Verification

An indoor concert scene where a band performs on stage, including a drummer and a musician playing a keytar. In the foreground, two audience members in wheelchairs are positioned near the front of the stage, one with an assistive communication device. The audience enjoys the live music in an inclusive setting, with the stage lights illuminating the performers.
Photo provided by Bass Therapy, © DJ Oli

Challenge

J-Fest struggled to accurately and fairly cater to customers with additional needs. Requests for reasonable adjustments, such as companion tickets, were handled outside of their ticketing system, creating an overwhelming manual approval process. Without in-house expertise to verify requests, they faced challenges in preventing misuse and ensuring that those who genuinely needed support received the necessary accommodations.

Solution

By leveraging Different Breed’s integration with Access Card, J-Fest now benefits from built-in eligibility checks for assistance animals, companions, wheelchair access, and SEN requirements. This outsourced decision-making to experts ensures a fair and inclusive process while protecting the festival from overclaims and misuse. Best of all, J-Fest can now track demand for accessibility needs in real time, automating manual processes and enabling better planning for disabled attendees throughout the ticketing cycle.

What Did Customers Think

Based on feedback from a survey sent to 130 attendees.

  • "Absolutely fantastic service/communication from the beginning to end, thank you! 😃 Highly recommend"

    - Helen Gillan

  • "Great communication, easy to use and access. Clear information that helped."

    - Graeme Muir

  • "It was a smooth booking experience"

    - Gena Hardy

*All names have been changed for privacy.

A group of five people stand together smiling in front of large colorful letters spelling out a word, decorated with graffiti. The group poses with arms around each other, enjoying an outdoor festival on a grassy field under a partly cloudy sky. Tents, festivalgoers, and portable toilets are visible in the background.

Closing Words From Bass Therapy

"Different Breed has been an invaluable partner in our mission to make our festival more accessible to those who need it and we are so grateful we came together when we did. Their seamless handling of complex accessibility needs through self-service not only freed up our time, but helped with our additional needs also, allowing us to focus on delivering the best event possible. We're encouraging any events we work with, from a sensory space or glamping perspective, to work with Different Breed and are really excited to continue this collaboration for future events and beyond."

- Kyley Dickson, Owner of Bass Therapy