A very important step in planning your events or securing your lodging is making your needs known. I learned this as a teenager after my sister had surgery and was using a wheelchair for a short time. It was the 70’s and stadium concerts were festival seating only. We would approach security before the doors were opened. Security would always let us in first to beat the rush of the crowd. It’s a considerate and kind arrangement that most music venues still practice today.
Here’s the protocol. If you are attending a concert at a venue that does not have reserved seating arrangements, call the box office and ask them what their wheelchair accessible seating arrangements are. (Good idea to do this before purchasing your ticket.) For persons with vision impairment the same practice should apply. Normally the arrangement is to meet at the entrance (cut to the front of the line) 15 minutes or so before doors open. Somebody will meet you and allow you and your friends to enter and they will escort you to the auditorium and allow you to stake your spot usually wherever you wish. Be certain to listen to their instructions and follow them for each venue may have its own protocol.
Choosing a hotel Most hotel employees will not know your needs unless you inform them. When choosing a hotel inquire about roll-in showers, open bed frames, a refrigerator in the room to store medicine… Visit the hotel’s website and see if there is an ADA section. If not call and inquire.
The Hardly-Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is truly a gracious and generous gift from its founder F. Warren Hellman (investment banker and banjo pick’n frontman from “The Wronglers”). Admission is free and is traditionally set for the first weekend of October, the dates have been set for Oct 2, 3, & 4, 2009. As the name implies, the festival is not strictly bluegrass. This years line-up includes; Earl Scruggs, 
