Conference Venue and Access
Bristol Beacon
The ABO Conference 2024 is hosted by the newly transformed Bristol Beacon, a music charity, renowned venue and award-winning music education hub. With a city-wide programme of live music, creative learning opportunities and community engagement, Bristol Beacon helps make space for music every day, with everyone. The current once-in-a-generation transformation of Bristol Beacon will create one of the best and most accessible performance and music education venues in Europe. Their brand-new spaces will inspire music lovers and artists to come together and share the joy of live music. After a full-scale refurbishment of the venue, Bristol Beacon reopens from Thursday 30 November 2023 with two international standard performance venues, a bright new restaurant and its cellars in use for the first time as an education and performance space. Bristol Beacon will be a celebratory place full of warmth and light, where music lovers meet and everyone belongs.
Find out more about Bristol Beacon here.
St George's Bristol
On Thursday 25 January 2023, some sessions will take place at St George's Bristol, which is an 8-minute walk from Bristol Beacon. St George's is a world-class, independent music venue in the heart of Bristol. It has a 580-seat concert hall converted from a 200-year-old Georgian church - called ‘the best acoustic for chamber music in Europe’ by Sir Simon Rattle. As well as a space for music, it is a space for performance, learning and ideas. The venue also offers a contemporary pavilion-style extension housing its Café Bar and Glass Studio space.
Find out more about St George's Bristol here.
Access
Bristol Beacon has level access from Colston Street or Trenchard Street with automatic doors, and lifts to all floors. Accessible toilet facilities are found on all levels and are signposted in the building.
St George's has level access from Charlotte Street, where there is a lift to all floors of the building accessing the Café Bar, glass studio and hall. Its Great George Street entrance has 21 steps and 20 steps from the Box Office area to the hall entrance. Accessible toilets are located on each level of the new building and on the ground floor beside the Box Office.
Assistance dogs are welcome at both venues.
An induction hearing loop is available at Bristol Beacon, and assistive listening systems are available at both venues (please give advanced notice if you would like to borrow headphones from either venue).
Disabled parking for Bristol Beacon can be found in the NCP Tenchard Street car park. A lay-by for curb-side drop-off is immediately outside Bristol Beacon on Pipe Lane. St George's has limited Blue Badge parking, which must be pre-booked, or nearby on-street parking.
Large print formats of venue and programme information are available on request from Bristol Beacon.
The conference concert performance by the Paraorchestra will be an immersive performance in which audience members are invited to walk amongst the performers. Seats are available on request.
For more information about access at Bristol Beacon, click here.
For more information about access at St George's, click here.
Please inform the ABO team of any accessibility needs you may have. Please give as much notice as possible, and will do our best to accommodate your requirements. You can include these in the Special Requirements box when booking, or email info@abo.org.uk. We are happy to contact Bristol Beacon and St George's on your behalf to make any necessary arrangements.