People with disabilities and music-industry representatives told Rolling Stone about barriers to concerts and festivals in the United States. According to 2024 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 70 million U.S. adults have a disability — about one in four.
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990, requires concert venues and festivals to provide equal access. But meeting minimum technical requirements does not always allow disabled visitors to participate fully. They report difficulties buying tickets, navigating venues, getting information and using accessible services. Physical strain, anxiety and humiliating treatment have led many to stop attending concerts.
The article’s author describes attending her first concert after cancer and three operations over three years. At an event in Southern California, the organizer allowed only one companion for each disabled visitor in the accessible area. After the show, the author had to make her way over uneven ground in the dark using a walker. She filed complaints with the city of Pasadena and the California Civil Rights Department, hoping to prompt discussion of improvements rather than a lawsuit.
ADA requirements for temporary events, including outdoor concerts and festivals, were last updated in 2010. Advocates say the rules are inadequate. In 2019, wheelchair user Amy Fink found that a ticket for an accessible area at Red Rocks Amphitheatre cost $40 more than a regular $49.99 ticket. Following her complaint, the U.S. Department of Justice found that the venue had overcharged for 1,817 accessible tickets at 178 events between 2018 and 2020.
Three years later, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado reached an agreement with Red Rocks and its owner, the City and County of Denver. Live Nation, AEG and PBS12 paid civil penalties, and disabled fans received a total of $47,950.90 in refunds. Red Rocks expanded accessible parking, rebuilt ramps and platforms, renovated restrooms and required all wheelchair-accessible seats to be sold at the lowest price. Still, just 121 of the amphitheatre’s 9,500 seats are wheelchair-accessible. Venue rules do not allow it to require buyers to prove they have a disability.
Portugal. The Man musician Eric Howk, who uses a wheelchair, could not reach the dressing room at Winnipeg’s Burton Cummings Theatre because it was accessible only by a spiral staircase. The room was made accessible before the band returned in 2023. Howk says such incidents should lead to solutions, not stop at apologies.
Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities (RAMPD) is conducting one of the first large-scale studies of disabled audiences and music-industry workers in the United States. Results are expected next year. Accessibility Live provides accessibility services at 120–130 concerts and festivals a year, including Coachella, EDC and Bonnaroo. Its head, Austin Whitney, says temporary infrastructure and brief training for seasonal staff can lead to problems, while visitors often lack clear information before events.
Accessibility also makes business sense: a 2024 study estimates the disposable income of people with disabilities in North America and Europe at about $2.6 trillion a year. Visitors who receive access and clear communication come back, bring friends and buy merchandise. Meadow Creek Music Festival in Colorado is cited as an example of planning ahead: the event opened in 2025, welcomed 10,000 guests in its first year and brought in an accessibility consultant early in the planning process.
The author also describes a concert at the Armory in Minneapolis, where a staff member escorted her into the venue and explained how to request assistance. Clear information and support let her focus on the music instead of navigating access problems.
