The festival is committed to providing a warm and welcoming environment for anyone who wants to attend, whether they are local or visiting, familiar with the music, or exploring it for the first time. The festival is also committed to encouraging and promoting equality of opportunity and inclusion across all aspects of its work.

We understand and celebrate diversity in its broadest sense, including differences of age, disability, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation. We also acknowledge differences that transcend social and cultural categories, but which are equally significant to opportunity and inclusion, such as health, geography and economic disadvantage.

The festival seeks to undertake all its activities in a manner that makes its programme and opportunities accessible to all, and to address issues of under-representation wherever possible within the resources and remit of the organisation.

• We aim to reach a wider and more diverse audience with every festival, by constantly exploring new programming ideas and forging connections with individuals, community groups, schools and businesses. We will also use the festival’s new online platform RyeStream to widen the festival’s reach and further diversify its audience.
• Within the resources of festival, we will do everything we can to make the majority of our events accessible to people with disabilities.
• Our Young Ryedale initiative welcomes younger audiences, enabling them to attend the festival for as little as £1. We are also committed to exploring Dementia-friendly events and to other initiatives to make the festival accessible to people of all ages.
• The festival’s Community Opera programme is designed to offer participation experiences to local people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, including many who are often excluded from arts activity.
• We are committed to adopting a ticket pricing policy that allows access to as many sectors of the community as possible, including making a number of tickets available every year for those on a very low income.
• The festival strives to be a diverse and inclusive employer that treats everyone with fairness and respect. When making appointments for both paid and unpaid positions within the organisation. we will ensure that all selection procedures are free from bias and take positive steps to create a diverse talent pool that represents the balance of the local community.

Fundamentally, the festival believes that music and the arts enrich society and enhance lives, and aims to create an inclusive atmosphere that welcomes everyone.

This statement was last updated on 24/11/24.