Jazz Fest Access Program
Our Access Program coordinates our Services for People with Disabilities.
Out at the Fest, information regarding services for people with disabilities is available at the Access Center – located in front of the Grandstand.
Services for people with mobility limitations
Services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing
Services for people who are blind or have low vision
The Grandstand
Services for people with mobility limitations
The accessible parking area is available by entering on Gentilly
Blvd. This is the closest possible parking to the front entrance. In order
to utilize this lot, you will need to have a handicapped license plate or placard
or other state-issued identification. Contact your local Office of Motor Vehicles
to learn how to obtain this identification.
All festival parking is $50, and is on a first-come-first-served basis. Space
is limited.When arriving or leaving by taxi or the RTA Paratransit service
(504-827-7433), use the Gentilly Blvd. Pedestrian entrance.
Wheelchair-accessible shuttle bus service is available on
the Jazz Fest Express, which costs $16 round-trip (parking rates apply), and
operates between the Fair Grounds and the Sheraton on Canal , Fair Grounds
and the Steamboat Natchez Dock (Toulouse St. & the River) or the Fair Grounds
and City Park near Marconi Meadows (Follow the signs. Free parking with round-trip
shuttle ticket). Other pickup points may be available, please call for more
information.
Please call the JazzFest Express in advance to make arrangements for the wheelchair-accessible
shuttle bus: 504-569-1401 or 800-535-7786
Reinforced surfaces crossing the track and paved pathways
on the infield facilitate wheelchair passage.
The Grandstand is fully accessible with reserved wheelchair
spaces at all Grandstand stages, and accessible restrooms.
There are reserved wheelchair spaces at all tents and the three main
stages. Wherever chairs are provided (as in the tents), spaces for
wheelchairs are scattered throughout the audience, with the seat adjacent
to the space reserved for one companion. Access Program ushers are available
to help you navigate. At the three largest stages where chairs are not provided
and audience members sit or stand on the grass, space for wheelchairs is
provided just in front of the stage. Each person using a wheelchair may bring
one companion into the reserved area. Space is limited.
There are wheelchair-accessible portable toilets located
all over the festival grounds. Locations of the toilets are marked on maps
on this web site, and at the Festival.
Keys to these toilets can be obtained in two ways:
1. Check out a passkey from the Access Center in front of the Grandstand. You can use this key all day and return it before you leave.
or…
2. A sign on each accessible toilet indicates where a nearby staff person is stationed who is holding the key.
All the food counters are at wheelchair height; vendors will
be happy to assist in carrying your food and drink to a picnic area.
Telephones are mounted at wheelchair height.
The Paralyzed Veterans of America operate a booth, located next to the Access Center in front of the Grandstand, where they lend out conventional wheelchairs.
Services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing
TTY (Text Telephone) at the Access Center
American Sign Language interpreter services are available
on a first-come/first-served basis. Give as much advance notice as possible
please.
Schedules listing interpreted events are posted at the Access Center.
Assistive Listening Devices are available for the Allison Miner Music Heritage / Lagniappe Stage.
Services for people who are blind or have low vision
Braille and large-print programming information is available at all information booths and at the Access Center, which also has recorded program information.
Visit the first floor of the Grandstand to get out of the sun, see the Food and
Music Heritage Stages, some cool exhibits and real restrooms with running water
and attendants.
To request further information about New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival services for people with disabilities, call (504) 410-6104.By e-mail: Access@nojazzfest.com
Please note: Festival does not provide personal care,
golf cart rides, or push service.
Please bring attendants if needed.
Updated January 2007