Accessibility & Venues
Accessibility & Venues

We look forward to welcoming you to Southampton for the British Science Festival 2026!

Below, you will find general accessibility information about the Festival, as well as directions to our venues and accessibility details for each location. We will be updating this page in the weeks leading up to the Festival so please return here for the most up-to-date information.

You can find a map of all British Science Festival venues and their facilities here or below. Click on the icons on the map or on the left-hand menu for more details.

General Festival Accessibility

We aim to make the Festival enjoyable for everyone and provide as much information as possible to help you plan your visit.

If you have additional accessibility questions, please email us at festival@britishscienceassociation.org.

Event accessibility

As of the latest update of this page, the majority of our venues are wheelchair accessible, with the exceptions of The Stage Door and Dice & Dumplings. Please refer to each venue description below for an overview of its accessibility features.

When travelling around Southampton, we recommend using MyJourney Southampton’s journey planner as it provides reliable travel instructions and real-time updates.

Accessible travel

Blue Badge Parking

There are designated disabled parking bays throughout Southampton. Blue Badge holders can park free of charge in Southampton City Council on-street pay and display bays, council-operated surface car parks, resident permit bays and West Park Multi-Storey Car Park, provided a valid Blue Badge is clearly displayed.

Some disabled parking bays have time limits, so please check local signage before leaving your vehicle. Where permitted, Blue Badge holders may also park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours, provided no loading restrictions are in place.

For detailed information on Blue Badge parking, please visit Southampton City Council’s Blue Badge parking website. To find nearby disabled bays locations please visit the Southampton City Council’s Parking Map and apply ‘Disabled Bays’.

If you have any questions about Blue Badge parking, please email us at festival@britishscienceassociation.org.

Bus Travel

All public buses in Southampton are wheelchair accessible, with low floors, ramps, designated wheelchair spaces and priority seating. Many services also provide audio and visual next-stop announcements.

The city’s main bus operators, Bluestar and Unilink, run services across Southampton and the surrounding area, including routes to many Festival venues. Please see Bluestar’s accessibility website and Unilink’s accessibility website for more information.

Older and disabled residents may be entitled to a concessionary bus pass, allowing free off-peak travel on local bus services. Please see Southampton City Council’s website for more information on Disabled Person’s bus passes and senior bus passes.

If you have any questions about bus travel, please email us at festival@britishscienceassociation.org.

Rail Travel

Southampton Central and Southampton Airport Partway are the city’s main railway stations and offers step-free access, lifts, accessible toilets and assistance services for disabled passengers.

For detailed accessibility information for Southampton Central, Southampton Airport Parkway, and other stations across the UK, please visit the National Rail Accessibility Map.

Assistance can be booked in advance or requested on the day (with 2 hours notice) where available. Please visit the National Rail Passenger Assisted travel webpage for more information or contact National Rail Passenger Assist on 0800 022 3720.

For any additional questions about rail travel, please email us at festival@britishscienceassociation.org.

Toilets

All of our indoor venues have toilet facilities available. Most of our venues also feature accessible toilets on or near the premises. For specific details or exceptions, please refer to the venue descriptions below.

In addition to venue facilities, there are several public toilets with accessible facilities available in the city centre. You can find these using the National Public Toilet Map.

For those needing further support, Changing Places toilets are available throughout Southampton. You can use the Change Places Toilets website for more information on locations and facilities.

Help at the Festival

Our friendly Festival Assistants will be at all events and are happy to help. They can answer any questions you have, provide directions or inforamtion about the facilities at our Festival venues.

If you’d like a little extra support, you can pick up a Sunflower Lanyard from our Info Desk during opening hours. This discreetly lets our team know you may need additional assistance or a bit more time.

If you need some time to yourself at any point during the Festival, you can head to our Multi-faith Prayer & Quiet Rooms, at the below locations, dates and times during the festival:

  • Faith and Reflection Centre
    • Nuffield Theatre Café, Building 6, Southampton, SO17 1TR
    • Wednesday, Thursday (10.00 – 17.00)
  • Sir James Matthew Building
    • 157-187 Above Bar Street, Southampton, SO14 7NN
    • Friday (16.30 – 20.30), Saturday (11.00 – 17.00) and Sunday (11.00 – 17.00)
    • Quiet Room – Room 3009
    • Multi-faith prayer rooms – Rooms 3013, 3015 and 3017

Safe Spaces Network

There are also many registered safe places across Southampton. You can find a map of registered safe places here, which includes the following Festival venues

  • MAST Mayflower Studio
  • Mettricks Guildhall
  • Southampton City Art Gallery

Mobility Aid Hire

Manual wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters are available to hire through Westquay’s Shopmobility service, helping visitors with temporary or permanent mobility needs get around the centre more easily. Equipment can be hired for short-term use, and both members and non-members can use the service.

The dedicated Shopmobility centre is located on Level 0 of Westquay North, with accessible parking available nearby in the Podium Car Park (standard parking charges apply).

The service is open Monday to Friday, 09:15 to 16:00 during the Festival, and advance booking is recommended. First-time users will need to register and provide two forms of ID, including one with a photograph and one showing their address.

Access guides

There are many helpful planning tools for venues across Southampton which provide detailed access guides for a wide range of venues, including theatres, shopping centres and cafés. These guides cover facilities such as accessible parking, toilets and entrances.

  • AccessAble provides detailed access guides with photographs, measurements and information about a venue’s facilities.
  • Euan’s Guide offers access reviews and recommendations written by disabled people and their families.
  • Able2UK offers accessibility information submitted by venues.
  • Access Card provides information about participating venues and the support they offer to Access Card holders, helping visitors understand what adjustments may be available.
  • Many venues also have their own accessibility webpages.

Where these resources are available for Festival venues, links can be found in our venue listings section.

If you have additional accessibility questions, please email us at festival@britishscienceassociation.org.

Venues