The Golden Thumb is an award for events that are the most accessible for people with a physical disability. GLOW Eindhoven has received this accolade for 2019.
This award is the brainchild of the Stichting Platform Gehandicaptenbeleid Eindhoven (Eindhoven Platform for Policies for the Disabled Foundation or PGE). With it, this platform wants to encourage event organisers to take disabled people who want to visit these social events more into consideration.
In 2019, a number of events in Eindhoven were again visited by PGE volunteers. These events were assessed on accessibility, usability, and safety for physically disabled people. GLOW Eindhoven came out on top last year.
‘A long-term partnership’
GLOW’s Head of Production, Tom Weerts, says “We are very happy with this recognition. GLOW Eindhoven is an event for everyone. We see the cooperation with Foundation PGE as a long-term partnership. Every year, if needed, we will make improvements in a sustainable way.”
“Last year we mainly invested in providing information on our website. We looked at the GLOW route with the Foundation in advance. There was, therefore, still enough time to make several places more accessible for the disabled.”
PGE Chairman, Toon van de Kerkhof, states that “GLOW has made an enormous effort to expand on the idea of inclusiveness. PGE finds the result admirable, and asked us for advice beforehand”. He points out that it is ‘very difficult’ to guarantee accessibility for wheelchair users and other disabled people at such large public events.
Urban Skin
From 7 to 14 November 2020, for the 15th time, Eindhoven will again be dedicated to light art. This year’s theme is ‘Urban Skin’. The city centre will be transformed into one huge exhibition space. Light projects by artists from the Netherlands and abroad will be on display. The projects will be interconnected by a walking route.
GLOW started in 2006 with 45.000 visitors. It has since grown, having a record number of over 770,000 visitors in 2019. This puts GLOW Eindhoven in the top five ‘ best-visited light festivals in the world’.
Source: GLOW
Translator: Melinda Walraven
