Access Information

When you attend a large gig at Aviva Studios you may have to queue before entering the building. We do this so that we can safely conduct bag searches and scan tickets. If you have access requirements that mean you find prolonged periods of standing difficult, we can arrange for you to enter Aviva Studios through a quieter accessible entry lane. 

If you have a ticket for a seated event and would benefit from extra time to navigate to your seat, we may – depending on the type of event you are attending – be able to arrange for you to enter the performance space ahead of other ticket holders. Please note, requests for this access provision must be made at least 48 hours prior to the event so that we can arrange the necessary staffing support. 

Assistance dogs are welcome at Aviva Studios. We have water bowls and mats available for handlers to borrow on request from the orange Information Point located in the Social. Our nearest ‘relief area’ is located immediately outside our Riverside entrance in Festival Square (what3words///full.origin.enter).

If you plan to attend a ticketed event at Aviva Studios in the Warehouse or the Hall and wish to either 1) bring your assistance dog into the performance space with you, or 2) leave your assistance dog with a member of our team, please let us know at least 48 hours before the event so that we can prepare for your visit.

For more information about assistance dogs at Aviva studios, please refer to our Assistance Dog Policy.

Visitors are welcome to bring medication to Aviva Studios and use it as needed. So that our security teams are best able to welcome you, we kindly ask that all medication is brought to the venue in its original packaging.

If you have been prescribed medical cannabis and intend to bring it with you to Aviva Studios, we also require that you bring with you a photo ID that matches the name on the dispending label found on the original packaging, as well as a copy of your prescription.

At our standing events, such as our gigs in the Warehouse, we do permit the use of walking sticks and crutches in our general admission standing floor. However, we cannot safely facilitate the use of walking frames, rollators or any other mobility aids that include or make available a seat to the user.

If you use a walking frame or rollator, we strongly recommend you buy tickets on our accessible viewing platform. If you are unable to stand for long periods of time and choose to purchase a general admission standing ticket, we may not be able to accommodate your needs or mobility aids on the day if our accessible viewing platform has sold out.

If you have a ticket to one of our seated events and make use of a walking aid such as a stick or crutch, you are welcome to bring this with you to your seat. We kindly ask that you store it under your seat so as not to cause an obstruction or trip hazard.

If you make use of a walking frame or rollator, we recommend you book seating in one our accessible areas. This way you can keep your walking aid nearby. If you instead decide to book a general admission seated ticket, please do let one of our stewards know on the day and they will be able to assist you with storing your mobility aid and retrieving it at the end of the event.

For events in the Warehouse and Hall, bag size may be restricted to smaller than an A4 sheet of paper (21cm x 30cm) for safety and security reasons. Ticket holders will always be told this ahead of time. However, if your access requirements mean you need to bring a bigger bag with you (for example, to accommodate medical equipment), please do let us know ahead of time and we’ll organise an alternative entry and search mechanism for you.

Most events at Aviva Studios that take place in either the Warehouse or Hall will make some use of strobe, haze or other technical effects (such as lasers, fast-moving images, confetti cannons, flashing lights, pyrotechnics etc.). We will always do our best to inform visitors ahead of time of the nature of these effects so that you can make an informed decision about whether an event is right for you – we do this through our event page information, pre-show emails and on-the-day signage.

If you have a specific question about our use of technical effects that is not answered on the relevant event page, please do not hesitate to reach out. With new work, we may not always know exactly what lighting and sound effects are going to be used until opening night, as these shows are likely still in development when we put them on sale. In these instances, we are happy to honour refund requests for ticket holders for whom the last-minute addition of a particular technical effect means the event is no longer accessible to them.

In addition to the use of technical effects, we recognise that it can be important for some of our visitors to get a heads up about the themes or subject matters an artistic work engages with or speaks to, so that they can make an informed decision about whether an event is right for them.

On our event pages, under the ‘Access’ subheading, you can find advisory information that relates specifically to the event you are considering attending. We will always flag all forms of violence, drug use, discrimination and nudity, but should you have any other specific concerns about the content of our work, please do not hesitate to contact us and we’ll do our best to answer your question.

Factory International is proud to commission and produce a programme of work that frequently includes BSL interpreted, audio described, captioned and relaxed performances. You can find more information about this on our Access Performances page.

At Aviva Studios, we are also fortunate to host many music, commercial and community-led events that are designed and delivered by other promotors and event organisers. In these instances, we recognise that access provision can be less consistent so it’s important to us that our visitors feel able to request what they need to be able to access these events.

We do not yet have the permeant infrastructure that would enable us to deliver live captioning on request. However, if you would benefit from a BSL interpreter or audio describer at an event that is not yet advertising this provision, please do reach out to us and we’ll do our best to facilitate this. Please note, we require a minimum of six weeks’ notice to be able to reliably honour requests for BSL interpretation or audio description.

Our emergency evacuation plans for visitors to Aviva Studios anticipate that we will have people with mobility, cognitive and sensory impairments with us in the building.

Refuge points for visitors with mobility impairments are located on every level of our building and our Front of House Team is trained to escort visitors to these positions or use evacuation chairs in instances where it is deemed safer to support a visitor downstairs to leave the building.

Our emergency alarms combine both audio and light signals to support visitors to navigate to evacuation routes.

If you are a visiting artist, contractor, freelancer or touring party member whose work means you are likely to be positioned in a backstage area in the event of an evacuation, please do let your named contact know at least 48 hours in advance of your attendance if feel you would benefit from a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) and we can work with you to create one.

Whilst we aim to deliver high-quality accessible experiences for everyone, we recognise that we can sometimes miss the mark or make mistakes. We welcome all forms of feedback and accept complaints in good faith as an opportunity to learn and improve, as well as a chance to hopefully make things right.

If you’d like to share informal feedback with us about our access facilities, policies or your experience at an event, please email access@factoryinternational.org. We work to respond to all email communications within three working days.

If you are not satisfied with the response to your feedback or wish to submit a formal complaint, please email feedback@factoryinternational.org.

If making a formal complaint, please include the following:

• The date, time and location of any incident if applicable
• A description of what happened and/or of your complaint
• Any staff names or positions, booking reference numbers, or supporting documentation you think is relevant
• An outline of what a resolution to your complaint would look like for you

Receipt of any complaint will be acknowledged within five working days. You will receive a formal response within 10 working days. All access-related formal complaints will be overseen by our Access Manager and, if necessary, may be escalated to appropriate heads of department or senior leadership.