AccessFest 2023

Access Festival: ACCESS and Equity for people with visible and invisible disabilities, BIPOC, and equity seeking communities. The festival will include an art show, parade, poetry night, community film screening, and multiple workshops held throughout the week. The parade on June 3rd will mark BC Access Day and include performers like Carmen Papalia, Glow Motive, and KeAloha. Starting in Emery Barnes Park at 12:00, vendors will welcome parade participants who will process at 2:00 PM to Vancouver Art Gallery’s north plaza for a grand stand featuring musicians and other performers. Other events include the art show opening May 27th from 12:00-3:00 PM at The Gathering Place, featuring a talk by curator Yuri Arajs and our artists. Join textile artist Jenna Reid for a banner making workshop May 28th 12:00-3:00 at TGP to collaborate on the banners for the parade later in the week. To see the full schedule, visit: https://www.kickstartdisability.ca/accessfest/ ACCESS Festival is a festival run by and for disabled people, featuring equity seeking artists, musicians, and community leaders. The week-long festival is a celebration of our bodyminds, our history, and our culture intended to bring our community and allies together to imagine vibrant, beautiful futures together. All events are free and open to the public. Events like workshops and the film screening, poetry reading, Film Screening and community dialogue, and accessible art tour at the Vancouver Art Gallery do require registration for capacity and accessibility reasons. Indoor events will require masks and all performances, workshops and talks will have ASL interpretation. Presented by Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture in partnership with The Gathering Place and the Downtown South Community Association and financial support from the City of Vancouver, the Province of British Columbia, and SPARC BC.