Local News

Music Festival for the Deaf Coming to San Antonio

By  | 
Tony Maples Photography

 

On May 20th, San Antonio will host The Good Vibrations Music & Arts Festival. The event will benefit Aid the Silent, an initiative started by 2017 Miss San Antonio, Emma Faye Rudkin. KENS 5 says that the headliner will be Ben Rector, and attendees can expect the entire festival to be accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing community.

The festival will provide concertgoers with many sensory experiences. On their website they write, “The Good Vibrations Music & Arts Festival will have live captioning, ASL interpretation, T-coiling, front row seating, vibrating backpacks and a visual light show, which will sync to the performances.”

T-coils, Audiology.com explains, can “transmit the audio from a PA system directly to telecoil-equipped hearing aids and cochlear implants.” And if you’re curious about the vibrating backpacks, check out this video from 7UP’s Concert For the Deaf.

In 2009, The Guardian reported on one of the first music festivals for the deaf in Toronto. They used Emoti-Chairs, which added motion, vibration and puffs of air to enhance the experience as well as video, closed-captioning and sign language interpreters. The new San Antonio festival will use some of these ideas and elevate them for an updated festival experience.