Arena for all

In 2023, the Arena for All initiative was launched for a more accessible Festival. For people with disabilities, 1,500 more places were made available than in previous editions.

The operas Aida, La Traviata, Rigoletto and Nabucco were made fully accessible with dedicated free tools:

• inclusive trailers, in Italian and English, with subtitles, voice, Italian and international sign language translation, audio description of images;
• audio introductions and audio descriptions for blind and visually impaired persons;
• subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing people;
• inclusive, digital programmes, in Italian and English, with simplified texts, editable and enlargeable fonts, voice, audio description of images, and texts translated into Italian and international sign language;
• info sheets for the operas, in Easy To Read language (promoted by “Inclusion Europe”, the European Association for people with cognitive disabilities), in Italian and English;
• Experiential paths before the operas

The numbers of the initiative

In total there were 766 participants, including spectators (466) who took advantage of the sensory and cognitive aids, and participants in the multi-sensory pathways (300), who were lucky enough to enjoy the Arena backstage experience. The operation expanded the Arena's audience: for 63.7 percent of visitors it was their first time in the Arena.

The age range most involved was the 45-54 age group (27.2% of the total). The region of origin of most visitors was Veneto, followed by Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Marche. The most frequently used free tools were accessible trailers, inclusive and digital programmes, and easy-to-read cards. Read the detailed report here.