Beachlife Ranch '22

Living in sunny Socal truly has its perks. Afterall we have great food, great weather, great people, and great music. The perks of all those great features also  brings amazing music festivals. As the world recovers we find ourselves still trying to coexist with an ever changing pandemic outbreak, new social norms, and bringing back a sense of normalcy.  Prior to my hybrid body I was probably one of the biggest concert goers and am blessed to say I've seen many great legends. In doing so I would  have never thought twice about the many limitations concerts have for the disabled  community. Well I'm here to tell  you my disability will not limit my ability to have fun and enjoy something I truly love.

Beachlife Ranch is a three day Americana / California Country Music festival  located in the heart of my home, Redondo Beach. For three days in amazing sunny Socal you will be immersed into the sweet sounds of music, moving to the rhythm of the beats, and kicking the dust up as you sing and dance along. At Beachlife laughter and happiness fills the air as people converse about who they are excited to see, while others sang along to their favorite bands. For once the world felt calm and steady. We all needed this.

As someone with mobility challenges I was truly nervous about seeing my first post accident and covid shows. Our ada accommodations had already been set up with special wristbands to get into the ada section, however day one of parking was confusing. Although they did have designated parking for us the lack of signage and knowledge of volunteers directing traffic led us to parking in the residential area and rolling down hill. Not an easy trek for someone in a wheelchair but still manageable one way. The excitement I felt seemed to fill me with mixed emotions because I had no idea what to expect . Would this truly be a space a person like me can enjoy in a wheelchair with thousands of people walking by? Would I be able to see the performances? What's the restroom situation? Would my chair be able to safely roll on the modified surfaces? So many questions amongst my initial excitement had me nervous as we approached the entrance.

Day one is here and I can't believe I get to see the Lumineers and Hall and Oates! When we approached there was a designated section to go through for wheelchairs at security. It was definitely an easy process. Getting my chair through wristband scanning was a tad bit of an obstical with it not being easy to scan and move through. Luckily someone caught me as my chair decided to bust its way into the festival leaving mom and the security checkpoint in the dust lol. Talk about making an entrance . Luckily Friday was not very busy and was very easy for me to comfortably roll around the venue when it was on asphalt. Once we got to the grassy section I did require additional assistance to roll through and go up ramps. There were a few minor mishaps but volunteers and staff were very quick to assist me. One being the bathroom situation. Unfortunately port-a-pottys don't mean fully ada friendly so I was allowed to use a real restroom that was in the vip section. Unfortunately due to the wires and cords getting to the restroom would be a treacherous condition because it wouldn't accommodate my chair. Luckily the beachlife team were ready to assist me and I was able to get to the handicap stall with my chair. Sand is definitely not a wheelchairs bestfriend but I had options when getting on the otherside. Ada sections for viewing had some seriously amazing views however day one was full of vip people filling the spaces where an ada person could have utilized. Afterall it's only day one, trial and error. MacKenzie would be a godsend when it came to addressing some of our ada concerns.

Remember how I raved about the amazing team Beachlife has staffed? Well MacKenzie went above and beyond to see to making my concert going experience was enjoyable. She was engaging and asked for my constructive feedback each day and even went above and beyond to improve our experience in the ada section the next two days of the events. Seeing a community of people brought together with a similar interests in music and passions is an amazing thing. Watching the staff enjoy the performers and give back the same hyped energy concert goers had truly made my experience at Beachlife more enjoyable.

Day 2 and 3 from the Ada section improved. All staff was on the same page with who should and shouldn't be allowed in the ada section. They were so diligent day two we actually had a hard time getting to our section because security thought you needed to also have a VIP wristband to access ada seating. Who can fault them? They took my concerns into consideration and took it seriously and for that I am truly grateful because once everything was clarified we proceeded to ada without any issues.

If you love freebies as much as I do then you would be in heaven. On day two before Ashley Mcbride went on I loaded up on my favorite bacon mac-n-cheese and their free non alcoholic beers and iced tea. Besides the free drinks I stocked up on lots of free swag each day. Ashley's performace was truly enjoyable and a big crowd pleaser. She got my adrenaline running as I sang along to all her songs. As excited as I was to see her I simply couldn't wait to see Dierks Bentley who really closed down the night.

Day 3 would definitely be a lot slower, calmer pace for me since I was there for Maddie and Tae. I decided to take advantage of free wine tasting and even tried a new food location that served up the most delicious bbq bowls. Although I did not stay for the closing act I must say earlier in the day seeing Lukas Nelson+POTR was an absolute blast. He truly brought the crowd together with his soulful voice.

My hybrid body lifestyle does not limit my ability to have fun. Although Beachlife still had a couple of mishaps concerning the disabled community they truly were an amazing foreground in showing they are trying to bring together all persons together to enjoy one thing, our love of music. From amazing performances, an abundance of freebies a great venue and staff I truly enjoyed my time. I do hope they continue to grow and can continue bringing beachlife festivals to the southbay. My only other concern was the limited food options and the missed opportunity to showcase many local restaurants and breweries. There were not many allergy friendly options or vegetarian/ vegan healthy choices. I would have loved to also see dessert and snack options to compliment my cocktails as well child friendly options too. Overall for a fairly new event they are doing very well and I look forward to seeing them grow and attending more events to bring to you my readers more ada friendly options in sunny socal.