Matrescence Festival

Everyone is welcome. You are welcome with children, with a friend, a partner or a parent. You are welcome in a professional capacity too. You do not need to be a parent to attend.

This is a place of permission and support where children are welcome with you. You will be free to move about during the event, come and go as you need. There will also be some mats and toys for the children to play. Please feel empowered to breast, chest or bottle-feed where you need at all times. We expect babies and toddlers to make noise, so there is no apologises needed for children being themselves. Please be respectful and supportive of each other.

Headsets will be offered to all adults during the talks and performances so you are free to walk about, sit outside, visit the rest room, change a nappy - you don’t need to miss a thing. It also means you can always hear the speaker and we don’t need to turn the mics up too loudly. There will also be a children’s channel with music.

This is adult centred subject matter, including themes of birth loss, IVF, racism, maternal death and mental health. Content warning will be given before each speaker and in pre-event communications. If you have older children with you, we support you to use headsets in breakout spaces where older children cannot hear the speakers should content be a concern.

Everyone is welcome to engage as much or as little as they need, including the invited artists and speakers. There will be a quiet space during the morning speaker sessions to rest and reflect, to support neurodiverse needs, where headsets can be used to listen. There will be mats and toys in the main space and a secondary play space too to give you options. The headsets offer you the option to walk around and still hear the speaker. We will provide wristbands for entry so you are free to leave and return as you need.

Some workshops have limited capacity. You will receive an email in early June to ask you to book in to workshops, or sign up on the day to available workshops. This will be first come first served.

Morning refreshments and a vegan lunch will be provided for everyone. Please let us know when you book if you/your children have any dietary requirements. Please bring any food or drink you or children need, but no nuts please. We recommend bringing a reusable 'keep cup' for hot drinks and your own water bottle for the day.

Please indicate when booking if you need British Sign Language interpreters for the festival.

The main hall is wheel chair and buggy accessible via a ramp. There will be a buggy park at the venue. One breakout/workshop space is accessible only by stairs. Please let us know any access needs when you book.

Please note there is no parking at the venue, unless you have access requirements, please do let us know if that is the case on booking. There is a public car park on Okehampton Road, a 4-minute walk from the venue.