Scissor Sisters bring their glitz and sparkle back to the UK to celebrate 21 years since the release of their self-titled debut album. Does an arena, predominantly an ice skating rink, tick all the boxes as an accessible music venue? Let me fill you in!
BOOKING
Accessible bookings at Nottingham Arena are made over the telephone, directly with the arena box office. The staff will ask you relevant questions to ascertain the best seating for you.
As I’d booked at the venue in the past, a quick search of my surname and postcode brought my details up on their booking system. They use the Ticketek system. Once the booking was completed and I’d paid, I soon received an email confirming my order. The order confirmation showed all my details, the seats I’d booked and a full breakdown of all the charges.
My tickets were emailed to me three weeks before the event. The two tickets were PDF files I could print out and use as physical tickets, which is unusual nowadays. However, there is an option to have the tickets sent as e-Tickets directly to your phone.
It is recommended that you use an Access (also known as Nimbus) card when making bookings.
The arena offers some hospitality packages and upgrades. I don’t know if any of the options are accessible, but the website gives contact details for the hospitality team so you can get in touch with them with any enquiries. According to the Venue Accessibility page on the website, there are accessible seating options in the hospitality suites.
LOCATION AND GETTING THERE
Nottingham Arena is just a short distance from the city centre and the main shopping area. Being in the city, many accommodation options exist nearby and in the wider region. As a popular tourist area, there are options for all budgets.
Nottingham railway station is a half-mile walk or roll away. It is served by East Midlands Railway and Cross Country and offers services to destinations including London, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Cardiff.
The local tram network has two stops near the arena - the Lace Market stop is a third of a mile to the East of the arena, and the Nottingham Station stop is half a mile to the South. All trams have a completely level floor, high-contrast floor colourings, electronic signage, audible announcements and dedicated wheelchair spaces. The layout of all tram stops is the same, and the seven park and ride sites all have dedicated accessible parking bays. The trams run very regularly from early morning to late at night. The one thing that I find lets the system down is that you can’t leave your car in the Park and Ride car parks overnight. If you plan on staying in a city centre hotel, you must drive into and park in the city.
If you’re driving in, I’d recommend you research parking beforehand. Reading on the Nottingham Council website, it clearly shows that all council on-street parking bays are free of charge for Blue Badge holders, as long as you display your badge. What is confusing is that the on-street parking meters don’t tell you this! The parking meters have the option of paying with cash, but also cashless. They use the RingGo system so that you can pay with an app. The parking meter will have a code which identifies the location.
Blue Badge holders are not exempt from parking charges in off-street council car parks. They are also not exempt from the Victoria shopping centre parking charges, although with the offer of £5.50 parking after 5pm on an event day, it’s a good value option if you can’t find an on-street bay. It’s around half a mile away from the arena and is a good option if you want to go for something to eat before the show.
The closest parking to the arena for Blue Badge holders is in the Dean Street car park, which is close to the arena itself. As with other council parking, the rules aren’t clear. The bays along the side of the National Ice Centre are marked as accessible bays with no time limit. On the opposite side of the park, along the wall, the bays are regular pay and display. Being off-street, one would assume it’s a car park, but according to the Nottingham Council website, it’s not. This would mean a blue badge holder can park here without charge at any time of day. The signage also states ‘Blue Badge holders only’ from 8pm to 8am. Very confusing! The arena website recommends Dean Street for accessible parking, but it is only small.
There are some accessible and on-street parking bays on Barker Gate, opposite the Bolero Square entrance, and adjacent streets. I parked on Barker Gate because I wasn’t convinced of the rules for Dean Street in the regular bays and didn’t fancy risking a parking fine.
An NCP car park, Stoney Street, at the top of Barker Gate, is open 24 hours a day. The park has four accessible parking bays and prices start at £3.95 an hour.
GETTING IN
The arena concourse is on street level through Bolero Square from Bellar Gate / Belward Street. There is an additional entrance on Lower Parliament Street with an accessible lift to the main concourse.
Bolero Square is a large paved area across the front of the arena and the National Ice Centre. Looking at the front of the arena from Bellar Gate, Bolero Square slopes slightly to the right. This means the right-hand side of the square has steps down from the main footpath. If you keep to the left, there are no steps, and you’re level straight through the doors.
There is no signage in the square to tell you where to go. Metal fences are erected to guide you into queues for the security checks. There is no designated access queue, so follow the flow of people. This bag check area is quite close to the pavement, and once you’ve got through here, the area is open and uncluttered. There is nowhere to sit and no shelter if you need to queue in the rain.
In the square, you’ll also find a large merchandise truck. On this occasion, the truck only had a selection of merchandise that was available inside. The merch truck does have a clear counter to view the merchandise, and T-shirts are pinned up on the wall. However, being a truck, the counter is very high and unsuitable for wheelchair users.
As you move across the square towards the doors, you’ll see a set of blue gazebos and metal fencing. This is the ticket scan point. Again, there is no specific access lane. Once you’re scanned, you’re straight through to the arena doors. Something to note was that our tickets were checked, and we were thanked and shown through, but we were not asked if we knew where we were going or given directions on where to head. We just followed everyone else to an open doorway.
The doors to the left, on the side of the arena building, are labelled with Motorpoint sponsorship branding. To the right are some light-blue coloured doors, including revolving doors leading to an entrance hall between the arena and the National Ice Centre. This hall is also where you join from the Lower Parliament Street entrance. We went in through there and turned left, straight into the concourse and to the main merch desk.
This concourse is the Level 2 Concourse.
FACILITIES
Once in the concourse, you’ll find the main merchandise desk, a large selection of food and drink outlets, and toilets.
Around the concourse, you will find clear signage to help you find your way around the venue.
Clear signage above each set of double doors from the concourse into the arena bowl shows the block number and which rows and seats can be accessed from there. Arrows point in the direction of the concurrent blocks and seats.
The concourse isn’t very wide, and there is no seating available. There are some narrow shelves and girders on which to put your drinks or food. If you can’t stand for long, it’s worth noting that the advertised door times are not the time you will be able to access your seats in the bowl. The arena’s Instagram page advertised the show times earlier in the day, showing doors opening at 6pm. Access to the arena bowl was not until well after 6.30pm, so if you arrive early, be prepared to hang around in the concourse.
The merchandise desk has a low counter with glass cabinets, so it’s easy to see what is on sale. It is pretty wide, and there are lots of staff members to get everyone served quickly and to help minimise the queues.
Each food and drink outlet is branded differently and offers different menus. Some have low overall counters, which are easy for wheelchair users. What was good was a self-service Guinness bar with pumps to dispense Guinness, Estrella, and Aspalls, with pumps, card readers, and cups all being reachable from a seated position!
Drinks are sold in sturdy, reusable cups with arena branding.
There are four accessible toilets on the Level 2 concourse, located towards each corner of the arena. As we were in Block 16, there was an accessible toilet right next to the door into the bowl from the concourse.
The accessible toilets do not require a radar key. Some doors open outwards, but the one near Block 16 has a folding door. The one further along the Eastern side of the concourse, near Blocks 12-14, also had baby changing facilities. The toilets have the relevant access features you’d expect. Being positioned next to the ladies’ toilets, I found two of the most common problems that I encounter at large events - the long ladies’ queue snaking in front of the accessible toilet door, making it difficult to get in and out, and the accessible toilet being used for convenience because of the queues.
The arena has a Changing Places up on Level 3, accessed by a lift.
SEATING
There are accessible seating options right around the arena. Even-numbered blocks have viewing platforms where wheelchair users, companions and customers with mobility issues who require step-free access. The platforms have fixed seating for companions and spaces for wheelchairs in between. There are also fold-up chairs for access customers who need to use these platforms but do not use a wheelchair or scooter. The view of the stage is unobstructed. These platforms are in open areas and on the same level as the concourse, so there are no steps to navigate. All accessible seating is located near exits and toilets. There are staff members at each exit to assist with doors, help you find your seats and offer any additional help you may need during your visit.
Ambulant seating is available in other areas of the venue for those who can manage a minimal number of steps. Handrails are intermittent and not on every set of steps.
Unusually, the floor layout for this event was different from what I’ve seen before - the front half was all seated, but the back half was standing - very unusual!
Blocks 4, 6, 14 and 16 have 13 platform seats.
Blocks 12 and 8 have five seats.
Block 10 has 10 seats.
Blocks 2 and 18 have 5 seats, but these blocks are not used for all events due to staging.
Although not shown on any of the seating plans, a member of staff told us that for all-seated events, seats at the end of rows on the floor can be removed to accommodate wheelchairs.
My tickets were for the access platform of Block 16, Row G, seats 6 and 7.
We came in through 2 sets of double doors from the concourse, clearly marked as Block 16.
We were pleasantly surprised how close we were to the stage!
There were glass panels in front of us, separating us from the rows of seating in front of us. There were six rows of seating, A-F. Row F was three steps down from the level we were on.
To each side of us was a set of stairs leading up to Rows L-V of Block 16 and across to Blocks 15 (seats 1-14, all rows) and 17 (seats 13-25, all rows).
Row L behind us was a reasonable distance away, so you didn’t feel like you had people standing above or behind you.
If you were seated on the floor, you would struggle if you couldn’t stand for long; most people stood for the entirety of the show!
Some people did stand up in front of us, but because they were three steps down, it didn’t obstruct our view too much. You are never going to be guaranteed an unobstructed view, but any elevation adjustment makes a big difference.
Something to bear in mind when visiting the arena - it’s an ice rink. The ice is underneath the floor. The air in the arena is cool, and in the Winter, it feels even colder. One lady told me that the floor is really cold on your feet if you’re standing or seated on it. It’s worth bringing an extra layer of clothing if you feel the cold easily!
GETTING BACK OUT
With the people from the blocks beside us and the rows behind and in front of us heading towards the exit at the end of the show, it was easier to stay put and wait for the crowd to disperse a bit before we headed out. The concourse was quite busy, and there were queues for the toilets.
The crowd steadily moved towards the exits, and there was no pushing.
There were quite a few people waiting around in Bolero Square but there were clear ways through to get back towards the car.
Many people were heading up Barker Gate towards the NCP and Lace Market car parks, and some traffic was heading back down from the parks.
To be fair, the most significant disruption we found getting out was the abandoned Lime electric hire bikes abandoned on the footpath up Barker Gate.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
It’s a nice arena.
The parking needs some thought, and it’s a shame the tram stops aren’t closer to the arena.
The staff near the platform we were on all work for the arena rather than for contracted companies, so they have more knowledge about the arena and are generally more helpful.
The area around the platform was always kept clear, so getting in and out was easy.
