Weekend in London and Royal Albert Hall accessibility

I’ve always wanted to go to the Proms, and now I live a lot closer to London it actually seemed like a reasonable option this year. On Saturday I went to watch the National Youth Orchestra in the evening, and then on Sunday I went to the relaxed prom.

I’ve been to the RAH once before, but I was there as part of a youth choir event and to be honest I don’t really remember all that much about it. I was singing, so my experience was completely different, and I was being guided by other members of the choir and our teacher.

There are a lot of entrances to the building and your ticket will usually indicate which one you should enter through. On their website, they helpfully describe the building and the orientation of the entrances. This means as long as you know which direction you are facing, you can work out if you are at least close to the correct entrance. To be honest though, the staff were so nice and happy to guide they definitely wouldn’t turn you away.

On that note, I never struggled to get assistance. I decided to have a fancy dinner before the performance on Saturday, and staff in the restaurant read the menu to me and went through all my options. After, they called another team member who showed me to my seat, and also guided me to get a drink during the interval. Again, staff came back at the end of the performance which was something I had requested, so I could get assistance leaving the venue. All staff are really friendly and it is clear they are experienced guides or have certainly had training on how best to guide a blind person.

The relaxed prom the next day was an interesting experience. I received the same level of excellent support from staff, and the performance also included audio description. This is not something I’ve experienced at a concert before. The audio describer described the stage setup, and also gave details about some of the visual affects that would take place while the orchestra was playing. Between pieces, she also provided further information, but did not speak over the pieces themselves.

Relaxed performances allow people who may need to make noise to make it. I think it’s a great thing, and I noticed far more disabled people with very complex needs in the audience. There were also a lot of young children. I think it is a brilliant thing to offer, but to be honest for me the level of noise was a bit much. Ironically, I find I am most relaxed in very quiet and controlled environments. So perhaps I won’t go to another one, but I definitely encourage venues to offer these types of performances for those who would benefit.

I hope this overview is helpful for those who might want to go to the Royal Albert Hall but are nervous about the level of assistance they might receive. Honestly the team working there couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. I would highly recommend going there if something catches your eye that you think might be interesting, and it’s definitely somewhere I will visit again. The only thing I will say is that although navigating there was quite easy, once you get close to the building some bits get very pedestrianised or at least quiet. In some ways this is good but it can make it tricky to follow the map directions for the last hundred and fifty feet or so. Having said that, I was always able to find someone and ask them to point me towards an entrance.

Anyway a ten out of ten experience and you should try it.