Access

The Great Exhibition Road Festival is committed to being a welcoming and inclusive space for all. Design your own weekend exploring science and art with accessible activities, facilities and resources.

On this page:

Getting Here

Accessible Facilities  

Additional Resources (Including Hearing Assistance, Sensory Map and Visual Story)

Partner Museums

More Help

Getting Here 

The Festival is largely step free and is 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 the TFL website to find the best accessible route. 

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) 
  • Natural History Museum/Cromwell Road: Cromwell Road (Stop GM)

The above bus stops are served by the 9, 23, 52, 70 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 

Gender neutral wheelchair-accessible toilets and baby changing facilities are located across the festival site and in partner institutions.

Within the Zones you’ll find accessible toilets: 

  • Ground Floor of the Main Entrance (The Eureka Zone) 
  • Sir Alexander Fleming Building (The Green Zone) 
  • City and Guilds Building Foyer (near the Eureka Zone)  
  • Dyson Building of Design Engineering (The Design Innovation Zone) 
  • Ground and Lower Ground Floor of The Business School (The Future Medicine Zone) 

You can find accessible portaloos: 

  • Watts Way, Prince’s Gardens (Family Fun Zone) 
  • Imperial College Road (The Natural World Zone) opposite the Queen’s Tower. 

All accessible toilets are gender neutral.  

Changing Places Toilet  

Changing Places facilities provide sanitary accommodation for people who require use of a hoist. The nearest facilities are on: 

  • Floor 0 of the Science Museum  
  • Floor 0 of the Natural History Museum.  

If you require use of these facilities, please approach any member of Museum staff during the opening hours 10.00 – 17.30 for directions. 

Gender neutral toilets  

All portaloo toilets and accessible toilets are gender neutral.   

The Science Museum has specific gender-neutral toilets on: 

  • Level 1 in Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries
  • Level 3 outside Wonderlab 

Indoor accessible toilets  

Accessible toilets can be found inside indoor venues around the Festival and can accommodate electric wheelchair users.

Seating  

The Festival is largely standing only, although seating is available across the site, particularly around any of the performance areas and in Prince’s Gardens (Family Fun Zone). 

Assistance Dogs 

Assistance dogs are welcome at the Great Exhibition Road Festival. Dogs must be suitably trained, supervised, and remain on a lead, tabard, or harness throughout your visit.  

Non-assistance dogs are welcome to visit any outside Festival site but will not be allowed into any internal Festival venue. 

If you have any concerns or questions about this, please contact [email protected] in advance of your planned visit. 

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  

A sensory map of the 2025 Festival will be available to download soon.

Visual Story 

A visual story is available to help you or anyone in your group prepare for your visit to the Festival. It includes lots of images with text. Click here to download the PDF.

Hearing Assistance 

Hearing loop systems are available for selected parts of the talks programme and other activities:

Saturday 7 June:

Sunday 8 June:

All of the talks and performances listed can be pre-booked, but there will also be spaces available on the day.  

Live captioned events

There will be a selection of live captioned talks across the Festival:

Saturday 7 June:

Sunday 8 June:

British Sign Language

There are a selection of British Sign Language interpreted events across the Festival.

Saturday 7 June:

Sunday 8 June: 

If you would like to see a specific talk BSL interpreted, please contact [email protected] to make a request. We will do our best to accommodate your needs where possible.  

Partially sighted and blind visitors  

We understand that visitors who are partially sighted or blind might prefer some extra assistance around the Festival. We have teamed up with Travel Hands to offer a free companionship service with trained guides that can meet and escort you around the Festival.  

To make a booking please visit https://www.travelhands.co.uk/ or contact [email protected] or call +44 20 39661650 and reference the ‘Great Exhibition Road Festival’ to book this free service.  

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.   

Calm Space - Watts Way, near the Family Fun Zone 

The Calm Space can be used by visitors 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. It will be fully staffed at all times with mental health first aiders.  

The Calm 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. This service is provided by EventWell. https://eventwell.org/  

What3words: ///powder.atom.pound  

Multi-Faith Spaces – Future Medicine Zone, The Business School  

The multi-faith spaces are available for anyone to use should they need a private place to spend time in contemplation or prayer. The multi-faith spaces are in Seminar rooms 1, 2 and 3 In the Future Medicine Zone. In each room there are prayer mats that can be used with toilets and a water fountain located nearby. 

Partner Museums Accessibility 

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. 

More Help

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.