Attending The Brighton Tattoo Convention

Well what a day I had on Saturday! On a whim a few days ago, my partner and I decided last minute to buy tickets to attend the annual Brighton Tattoo Convention. My partner had never been and I hadn't been in nearly 4 years due to illness so we threw caution to the wind and decided to have a good day out, and the weather was absolutely beautiful so the day was already off to a good start!

Now the last time I had gone to the BTC it had been held in the Hilton Brighton Metropole. This hotel was a nice looking venue, but I remember it being was very tight and crowded the whole time, filled with stairs and pointless steps up and down into different areas. I wasn't disabled four years ago, but now I am a part time wheelchair user and I knew I would have to spend most of the day in my chair. This year the convention was being held at the Brighton Centre, which put me at ease slightly as I'd been to a show there last year while using my chair and I knew that it was pretty accessible, but in my mind I couldn't figure out how they were going to use the space to lay out the convention. I was pretty apprehensive about whether I was going to enjoy every bit of what the convention has to offer, or if I was going to spend a majority of the day being stuck in one area sulking in my wheels wondering why I wasted my money on a ticket.

I'm very thankful to say that wasn't the case! The layout of the convention was great; as we followed the barrier along outside to get to the door we were met by a lovely group of smiling door men and Brighton Centre employees all ready to scan our tickets and let us through. Then we were directed to a line of revolving doors; 'Here we go!' I thought because I had no idea how I was going to get my chair through one of those doors, but straight away a lovely doorman saw us coming and opened a normal door next to the side.

The way they laid the convention out as a whole was great; on the ground floor you had a little food cafe, all the trader stands (clothing brands, jewellery makers, craft beers etc) and the first thing you saw entering the building was a display of gorgeous vintage hot rods and low rider cars! Beautifully laid out for everyone to enjoy.

The second floor was where the tattoo booths were all set up, the space between most of the aisles was pretty wide so it was great not to feel like I was having to wade through a sea of people constantly. Even when the convention got busier throughout the day, I only had a couple of incidents where there was a bit of a 'traffic jam' so overall I was very impressed! Everyone who attended, the tattooists and Brighton Centre employees alike were all so welcoming and the atmosphere was fantastic.

There was a lot to do, everything was 100% accessible with the spacious lifts to all levels and I would definitely go to another convention or function of any type held in the Brighton Centre in a heartbeat, and peace of mind regarding accessibility is a great feeling to have when you're disabled. Brighton has always been so good to me as a disabled person (maybe not to my partner when he has to push me up the hills!) and I can't wait for next year's convention!

Beautiful view from the Sky Bar of the good weather!

I can't thank the Brighton Centre enough for actively making the convention accessible and having no grumples if I needed to ask for help, it means the world for me to be able to do the things I love despite some of my limitations!