Disabled Adventurer and Delapre Abbey - NN Fest 2

05 Sep Northampton leads the way as music festival and disability event join forces at Delapré Abbey

Posted at 13:53h in Latest News, NNBN Member News by
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Northampton is set to make history in September as two distinct events come together at Delapré Abbey to create the first combined music festival and disability event of its kind in the UK.

NN Fest, organised by Mo Sounds, will take place on Saturday 20th September and this year is being held in collaboration with ‘The Disabled Adventurer’ Nick Wilson.

The collaboration sees NN Fest providing the music festival infrastructure and atmosphere, while Nick’s Access Outdoors organisation is bringing cutting-edge all-terrain mobility technology and accessible adventure experiences.

Suzy Jones, Operations Director from MOSounds, said: “We believe music has the power to unite people, so collaborating on the UK’s first combined music festival and disability event feels like a natural step forward.  We had such fantastic feedback on accessibility at a few of our previous events and feel it’s really important to show people how outdoor festivals can make minor adjustments that make a huge difference to wheelchair users. This shouldn’t be special and exciting, it should be the norm. This partnership allows us to create something truly groundbreaking – where great music meets innovative accessibility, ensuring everyone can be part of the celebration at Delapré Abbey.”

Nick Wilson commented: “We’re bringing together two things that can help us get through tough times – music and getting outdoors. Combining a disability event with a music festival is totally unique and takes it away from being a solely disabled and fairly formal affair, to a fully inclusive and fun event for everyone.”

NN Fest will deliver live music across Delapré Abbey’s historic south lawn, while Access Outdoors will showcase an impressive lineup of all-terrain mobility suppliers and manufacturers including Mybility All Terrain Wheelchairs, Steering Developments, AJM Choice, RockClimber, Quantum Rehab, and Trekinetic.

The Access Outdoors element of the festival will feature the locally designed and engineered record breaking extreme all-terrain prototype RockClimber which enabled Nick to achieve his solo ascent of Yr Wyddfa, and an all-terrain experience trail taking people around the Abbey grounds, providing a safe environment for people to experience the fun and freedom of riding an all-terrain chair.

There will be an accessible viewing platform, sensory chill spaces and all terrain mobility demos.

Pre-registered guests can enjoy free chair trials on the stewarded route as well as free access to the festival. The experience caters to newcomers to adaptive mobility, showing them what’s possible in a vibrant, celebratory atmosphere.

Additional features include:

  • Live music programme throughout the day
  • Live demonstrations of the latest mobility technology
  • A mobile Changing Place by RevoLOOtion
  • A quiet sensory zone, being run with Sends4Dads and Northants SEND Mummas.
  • Representation from local access to work and disabilities coaching, Empower Access Thrive
  • Information about year-round accessible adventure opportunities

 Richard Clinton, Chief Executive of Delapré Abbey, said: “We’re proud to be hosting this collaboration between NN Fest and Access Outdoors here at Delapré Abbey. Our grounds are for everyone to enjoy, and this event helps spark conversations and connections between different communities, showing how much can be achieved when people come together to share experiences in a special place like Northampton.”

 

Beyond Limits