Policies

Health and Safety:

Abingdon Music Festival accepts its legal responsibility for securing the health, safety and welfare of all those involved in the festival in whatever capacity, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The Festival Committee will provide and maintain safe and healthy working conditions so far as is reasonably practical.
The Chairman of the Festival Committee will have overall responsibility for health and safety provision. S/he will make suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to health and safety of all those involved in the festival in the festival location(s) with a view to elimination, reduction or control of any risks identified to help create a safe environment. This risk assessment will be reviewed annually.
All festival stewards will familiarise themselves with emergency procedures and fire exits in the festival location(s).
Adequate provision will be made throughout the festival for first aid and for summoning the emergency services if necessary.
All accidents should be recorded in an accident book and those defined in the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) will be reported to the appropriate enforcing authority via HSE website.
This Policy will be reviewed annually.

Equal Opportunities:

Abingdon Music Festival will fully comply with the letter and spirit of Equal Opportunities legislation, and will ensure that no person engaged or participating in the festival’s events is disadvantaged on any grounds. The festival will not tolerate any form of discrimination, and appropriate action will be taken against anyone involved in the festival guilty of acting in a discriminatory manner. Any grievance under this Equal Opportunities policy should be reported to the chairman or a member of the festival committee.
Festival participants with any disability are encouraged to draw the attention of the festival organisers to this.
The Festival Committee is responsible for ensuring that this policy is implemented and will review it on an annual basis.

Safeguarding:

Abingdon Music Festival complies with the Safeguarding policy stated on the website of the British and International Federation of Festivals, to which it is affiliated.

[See separate website page.]

Performers with special needs

Abingdon Music Festival welcome entries from performers with special needs:

• who may wish for slight adjustments to be made to normal facilities and arrangements in order to feel comfortable performing in a regular class
and/or
• who may enjoy performing and demonstrate significant achievement on their instrument(s) but whose learning difficulties are such that they are performing at a level significantly lower than that which would be expected of festival entrants in their age group/class and would thus prefer a special class for performers with similar difficulties
A note, specifying:
• the nature of the special need/disability
• the effect of the special need/disability on the applicant’s performance
• any desired adjustments to normal facilities/procedures OR a preference for performing in a special class
should be sent by email or post to the Chairman, marked ‘Special Needs: confidential’

Photography (for publication in syllabus)

No unauthorised photography/filming is allowed at the Abingdon Music Festival. Parents wishing to take visual images of their own children whilst playing in the festival should seek permission from the steward. General photographs are not permitted.

Conflict of interest:

It is recognised that some members of the Festival Committee will at times be involved both as stewards or otherwise assisting adjudicators, and as teachers or accompanists of festival participants. Wherever possible, these two roles will not be combined in the same class. In any case, members of the committee will under no circumstances attempt to influence any adjudicator in the assessment of any performance.
Festival attendees will have no direct access to adjudicators. Any dispute or dissatisfaction about an adjudication should be referred to the Chairman.

Festival Concert policy (for publication in syllabus)

In compiling the programme for the final concert, the Committee wishes to reflect the gamut of ages, abilities, instruments and musical styles from the whole range of Festival classes and to involve as many different individuals as possible, while not prolonging the event to the point of tedium. There is therefore no guarantee that all the best performances during the Festival will necessarily be included, and it is unlikely that any one participant, however variously gifted, will be invited to perform more than once in the concert.