Festival Square

Location

This year, Festival Square will be located in the outdoor spaces at Aviva Studios. The full address of the venue is Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ and the what3words is chop.feeds.chase.

The Event

The event at this venue is Festival Square.

Venue Access

There is step-free access to all areas of Festival Square. There will be a range of seating options around the space as well as picnic tables, including wheelchair accessible tables.

Layout and Seating

Events on stage at Festival Square will predominantly be set up as standing gigs. There will be a dedicated accessible viewing platform for wheelchair users and those requiring access seats, as well as a dedicated space on the flat floor close to the stage. Access to both of these areas will be available on a first come, first served basis. A member of our front of house team will be able to show you to these when you arrive. Selected performance slots will be BSL interpreted.

Toilets

Accessible toilets are located inside the main toilets space in the brick arches of the Social. The toilets are split into male, female and gender neutral – all of which contain accessible cubicles. The accessible toilets are towards the back of the space and contain left- or right-hand transfer, as well as ambulant accessible cubicles with grab rails and a Changing Places facility.

Our Changing Places is a fully accessible toilet with a height adjustable changing bench, a hoisting system, a peninsular toilet and sink.

There are shared handwashing facilities in each arch – they have soap dispensers under the mirrors to your left and dryers to the right. There are separate handwashing facilities inside the accessible cubicles.

You do not need a key to use the accessible toilets at Aviva Studios.

Assistance Dogs

Assistance dogs are welcome throughout our building, and we can provide mats and water bowls on request. Just ask a host when you arrive. If you are bringing your assistance dog to Festival Square, please be mindful that there will be high noise levels at some events.

Assistive Listening

Assistive listening is not available on Festival Square.

Chill Out Space

There will be a chill out space at Aviva Studios in the Lab between 3 and 20 July.

Travel information

Aviva Studios can be approached along Water Street (coming from Quay Street) or along Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield).

The Water Street route is the quickest way to arrive at our City Square entrance.

There are a number of rail and tram stations within the city centre which are just a short distance from Aviva Studios. The closest stations are:

Salford Central rail station: 10-minute walk via Red Rose Way and Irwell Street.
Deansgate rail station and Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop: 12-minute walk via Liverpool Road.
St Peter’s Square tram stop: 15-minute walk via Quay Street.
Manchester Oxford Road rail station: 25-minute walk via Oxford Street/Quay Street.
Manchester Piccadilly and Victoria rail stations: Both stops have frequent trams operating to and from Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop.

By Bike

There are 40 bike parking spaces at Aviva Studios including space for two accessible bikes.

National Cycling Route 6 passes close to the venue and this TfGM webpage can help with route planning.

You can also hire bikes from on-street docking stations across the city centre. The closest docking stations to our venue are currently on Deansgate by Liverpool Road and (400m from the building) and by King Street (500m from the building). Take a look at Transport for Greater Manchester’s webpage for advice on cycle hire.

By Walking and Other Active Means

Aviva Studios can be approached along Water Street via Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield).

If you're coming from Quay Street, the safest route to avoid construction works is via the cut-through opposite Gartside Street and past Booking.com.

All footways in the surrounding area are well lit and there are appropriate crossings across all main roads.

Pedestrians with visual impairment are recommended to approach the building via Water Street, from Liverpool Road. This route has traditional carriageway and footway design with fixed street furniture which should help with navigation to the entrance.

A footbridge at Left Bank in Spinningfields provides an accessible link across the River Irwell to Salford Central station, and a further footbridge also links Aviva Studios with the Salford area of Middlewood Locks.

Free bus

The free bus 1 service connects Piccadilly Station, Oxford Road and Deansgate rail stations, as well as other areas of the city centre to Aviva Studios.

The service stops on both Liverpool Road and Quay Street, close to the venue. Buses operate every 10 minutes during the day from Monday to Sunday and they are wheelchair accessible. For full details of the free bus 1 route and timetable, please visit the Bee Network website.

Bee Network services

Piccadilly Gardens is situated in the heart of Manchester and there are a number of bus services that will take you on to Aviva Studios. The 33 bus which starts at Shudehill, calls at Piccadilly Gardens and will take you straight to Liverpool Road. Services operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sunday.

Alternatively, you can board either a 35, 36 or 38 bus to Bridge Street bus stop which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

Coming into Manchester Victoria rail station? Head on over to Shudehill Interchange (which is a seven-minute walk via Hanover Street) where you can catch the 33 bus to Liverpool Road.

Alternatively, you can board either an 8, 67 or 100 bus from Manchester Victoria to Bridge Street bus stop, which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

There is a car park approximately 0.2 miles (350m) from Aviva Studios at Water Street Car Park, New Elm Rd, Manchester, M3 4JH.

There is also a NCP car park (Manchester Spinningfields) approximately 0.25 miles (400m) away from Aviva Studios at Spinningfields, New Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3BE. It has 35 accessible bays.

There are a small number of Blue Badge spaces along Water St and Quay St. Otherwise head towards Liverpool Road, Great John St and Lower Byrom St – close to our neighbours, the Science and Industry Museum where there are a small number of additional Blue Badge spaces.

For a list of other parking bays available in the area, visit Manchester City Council website.