Access
The Great Exhibition Road Festival is committed to being a welcoming and inclusive space for all. Design your own weekend around the theme of how science and the arts help us flourish with accessible activities, facilities and resources.
On this page:
Additional Resources (Including Hearing Assistance, Sensory Map and Visual Story)
Getting Here
The Festival is largely step free and located across Exhibition Road in South Kensington, Imperial College London and various partner institutions. Visitors are encouraged to travel by public transport where possible, and we recommend that you visit TFL to find the best accessible route.
Public Transport
Bus
The nearest bus stops to the Great Exhibition Road Festival are:
- Exhibition Road South End: Victoria & Albert Museum Stop (Stand R)
- Exhibition Road North End: Exhibition Road (Stop RB)
- Royal College of Music: Prince Consort Road (Stop RS)
The above bus stops are served by the 9, 23, 52, 70, 360 and 452 bus routes.
Rail & Underground
South Kensington is the nearest underground station to Exhibition Road. This station is approximately 550m to Exhibition Road and is served by the Piccadilly, Circle and District lines. South Kensington is not step free.
Gloucester Road Underground Station is approximately 700m to Exhibition Road. This is served by the Piccadilly, Circle and District lines and has a lift, but is not step free from the platform to lift.
West Brompton, approximately 2.3km away, has partial step-free access and is served by the District Line, London Overground and West London Line.
The nearest underground station offering step-free access from street to train is Green Park Station – from here, you can take the number 9 bus to the Festival site.
Parking
There are blue badge parking spaces located near the Festival site. The nearest spaces are on Queens Gate and Kensington Gore. These spaces are managed by the council, for more information please see The City of Westminster website.
Visitors can also pre-book to park on the Imperial College London South Kensington Campus. To book a space please email [email protected] by 12 noon the day before parking is required with your name, vehicle registration, the day and time you will be attending the Festival. Spaces are limited so please note that all day parking will unlikely be permitted to enable other blue badge holders to enjoy the Festival.
Accessible Toilets and Changing Facilities
Unisex wheelchair-accessible toilets and baby changing facilities are located across the festival site and in partner institutions.
At Imperial College London South Kensington Campus, you’ll find accessible toilets on the Ground Floor of the Main Entrance, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, City & Guilds Building Foyer, and Dyson Building, and on the Ground and Lower Ground Floor of the Business School. There will be accessible portaloos on Watts Way (adjacent to Prince’s Gardens) and on Imperial College Road opposite the Queen’s Tower.
Changing Places Toilet
A Changing Places toilet provides sanitary accommodation for people who require use of a hoist. The nearest facility is on Floor 0 in the Science Museum, Exhibition Road. To gain access you need a Radar Key, obtainable from the tickets and information desk. If you require use of this facility, please approach any member of the Science Museum staff during the opening hours of 10.00 – 17.30 for directions.
Gender neutral toilets
In all Imperial College London Buildings accessible toilets are considered gender neutral. You will find accessible toilets at street level and the main entrances of each of these buildings.
All portaloo toilets are gender neutral.
The Science Museum has gender neutral toilets on level 1 in Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries and on level 3 outside Wonderlab.
Indoor accessible toilets
Accessible toilets can be found along the festival on all ground levels of Imperial College London, Science Musuem and Victoria and Albert Museum and can accommodate electric wheelchair users.
More resources
These resources are intended to give visitors with sensory difficulties the information they need to plan their visit and fully enjoy the Festival.
Sensory Map
You can access and download a Sensory Map of the 2024 festival here.
Visual Story
A Visual Story is available to help you or anyone in your group prepare for your visit to the 2024 Festival (pdf). It includes lots of images with text.
You can also download a visual story for the Family Fun Zone: Relaxed Early Session (pdf).
Hearing Assistance
Hearing loops systems are available for selected parts of the 2024 Great Exhibition Road Festival talks programmes and other activities including:
Tropical Architecture for a Warming World
The Story of Time with Professor Jim Al-Khalili
Reclaiming our Rivers: Discuss and Doodle!
Will Humanity Thrive on Other Planets
Future Sounds: Classical Instruments Meet Digital Tech
Humans 2.0: Robotically Augmented People
Can Psychedelic Drugs Help you Flourish
Recreating the Real Loch Ness Monster
All of the talks and performances listed can be pre-booked but there will also be spaces available on the day.
Live captioned show
There will be live captioned talks across the Festival.
On Saturday 15 June 2024 the 15.00-15.40 Family Space Show will be live captioned.
On Sunday 16 June the 2024 15.00 – 15.45 AI in Pop Culture talk and the 16.30 – 17.15 Recreating the Real Loch Ness Monster talk will be live captioned.
British Sign Language
On Saturday 15 June 2024 the 15.00-15.40 Family Space Show will be BSL interpreted.
Ear Plugs
We understand that some parts of the festival can be loud, especially for some of our very young visitors, or visitors with sensory sensitivities. You can pick up free ear plugs from any of the main information points or around any performance stages.
Quiet Space - Watts Way, near the Family Fun Zone
The quiet space can be used by visitors with any additional needs who need a private area away from the public, whether to escape the hustle and bustle of the festival or to avoid any sounds, triggers or experiences that are making them feel anxious or overwhelmed. The Quiet Space is located on Watts Way, near the Family Fun Zone. It includes seating and a carpeted area and has a capacity of 6 people at any one time. There are also toilets and a water fountain located nearby.
Multi Faith Space - Business School, Imperial College London
The multi faith space is available for anyone to use should they need a private place to spend time in contemplation or prayer. The multi faith space is in Seminar Rooms 1, 2 and 3 on the lower ground, Business School, Imperial College. Two of these rooms are spilt across male and female use, with another room that can be used freely. There are also toilets and a water fountain located nearby.
Please visit the links below for further information about accessibility at each Partner building.
Science Museum: See the full access statement here.
V&A: See the full access statement here.
Natural History Museum: See the full access statement here.
Goethe-Institut London: See the full access statement here.
Royal College of Music: See the full access statement here.
Royal Albert Hall: See the full access statement here.
If you have any questions around accessibility prior to the Festival, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Festival team via [email protected], supplying your name, phone number, email address and reason for your enquiry.