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For festivals & events

Every festival has stories. Make them accessible to every attendee.

beacbeac uses small, weather-resistant Bluetooth beacons to bring accessible, self-guided information to blind, low-vision, Deaf, and hard-of-hearing attendees — and everyone else — at every stage, vendor row, and installation.

Bring beacbeac to your festivalLearn how it works

The mechanics

How it works

Attendees download one free app; after that, the right information appears on their phone as they approach — and when a set runs late, the next person who walks up gets the new time, with nothing to reprint.

  1. Tag every stage, booth, and installation.

    Mount small, weather-resistant, battery-powered beacons anywhere on site — a stage, a vendor tent, an art installation. Add schedules, artist bios, and vendor information from the admin console in your browser. No wiring, and no reprint when a set time changes.

  2. Attendees download the app once.

    One free download, with no account to create. Put the link in your ticket email and on your site before the gates open, and on a sign at the gate for everyone else — the download is the one step that needs promoting.

  3. Information arrives as they get close — in the format they need.

    With the app open, the right information opens on its own as an attendee reaches a stage or booth, and a screen reader announces it straight away; one tap reads it aloud or plays the audio or video you attached. If the phone is in a pocket, a notification says something is nearby. Change a set time in the console and the next attendee who walks up sees it.

And it runs with the team you already have — no IT department, and no print run to schedule.

  • A real dashboard, not a science project. Manage beacons and stories from the admin console in your browser, or from the app on the festival grounds.
  • See what reached people. Anonymous engagement numbers show which stories draw attention, how many visitors you reached, and how visits trend over time — and download as a spreadsheet for your board, your funders, or your next grant report.

Experience beacbeac at your next event.

Book a demo

Proof

Out in the field

At Supercrawl 2026

At Supercrawl 2026 in Hamilton, beacbeac ran at seven activations across the festival. The beacons carried stage schedules and, in the Art Zone, the artists’ names and a description of each piece, with the content updated daily through the weekend.

  • TD Main Stage
  • Grant Ave Stage
  • TD Coliseum / Hamilton Hammers North Stage
  • HCE Theatre
  • the Fashion Tent
  • the Author’s Tent
  • the Art Zone
Supercrawl

beacbeac at Supercrawl 20262 min 26 sec

Read the transcript

[The beacbeac wordmark and the words “Access Amplified” appear over a busy festival street in Hamilton, with a large painted mural on the building behind. A band plays on a lit outdoor stage.]

[At the beacbeac booth, beside a banner that reads “This isn’t an empty frame. It’s an inaccessible experience.”, two men speak into a handheld microphone. On-screen text: Alex & Christopher · BluHeron Interactive.]

Alex and Christopher: Hey, I’m Alex — and I’m Christopher. We are the co-founders of BluHeron Interactive. We have these low powered Bluetooth beacons set up around the festival, at the stages, and where the events are happening, that deliver dynamic content throughout the weekend, that we’re delivering as stories to people’s devices who have the app installed.

[Crowds fill the street. A wrestling match takes place in a ring set up on the road. A man with a white cane walks through the crowd.]

[On the festival street. On-screen text: Ali Khalil · Accessibility Consultant, centre[4]arts.]

Ali Khalil: So my name is Ali Khalil. I’m a person with vision loss. So if I’m in a gallery, I could just walk in, use the beacbeac app, and get that information in real time so I can experience the physical realm and the digital realm. And as a person with vision loss, independence is everything, so I’m glad that this technology works.

[Close-up of a phone showing the beacbeac app.]

[Outside the centre[4]arts storefront. On-screen text: Ian Masterman · Board Member, centre[4]arts.]

Ian Masterman: With beacbeac, it lets me do that. I can kind of free up a little bit of space in my head and in my, uh, and just enjoy the art and actually like experience it rather than spending my time working, basically. I absolutely love the app.

[Ali walks along the street with his white cane.]

[Beside the “This isn’t an empty frame” banner. On-screen text: Yvonne Felix · Executive Director, centre[4]arts.]

Yvonne Felix: When I think about navigating the world, it’s kind of like being in a haunted house, except the lights are on. Imagine walking through the world in broad daylight, but you don’t know what’s there, and at any time, something can jump out and interact with you.

[Inside a gallery, beside a projected artwork. On-screen text: Paris Reid · Programming, centre[4]arts.]

Paris Reid: The beacons also have helped the process in which we formulate the gallery. So it’s changed the way we even think about setting up the space and how we want the artists to explain their work, and it’s opened up a dialogue about accessibility in a really unique way.

[A mural reading “Behold the Guardians of Steel City” is painted from a lift.]

[Near the TD stage. On-screen text: Lisa La Rocca · Festival Director, Supercrawl.]

Lisa La Rocca: Hi, I’m Lisa La Rocca. I am the festival director of Supercrawl. We were so excited to have beacbeac involved in Supercrawl this year, increasing our accessibility initiatives. It’s been great to have, you know, the information we have available on their application, schedules for all of the stages of all of our artistic programming and all of the art installation.

[Shots of the centre[4]arts storefront, and of a fashion show on a runway under a tent.]

Lisa La Rocca: So, yeah, great first year of the partnership, and we’re so excited to continue working with beacbeac.

[The beacbeac wordmark and “Access Amplified” on black.]

At Nuit Blanche London

On 19 September 2026, for one evening, beacbeac ran at the ten art installations of Nuit Blanche London. Each beacon carried the artist’s name, their artist statement, and photos of the installation, and our team loaded the content.

Nuit Blanche London

Why festivals use it

Built for festivals

Schedules that change constantly

Problem

Festival schedules shift by the hour — a headliner runs late, a stage moves, a vendor cancels — and printed programs are out of date by the time they’re handed out.

The beacbeac solution

Update a beacon’s content from one dashboard the moment something changes, and the next attendee who walks up gets the new information — no reprint run, and no stack of outdated programs.

Setting up and striking fast

Problem

A festival site doesn’t exist the week before and won’t exist the week after — there’s no time for permanent signage, wiring, or infrastructure.

The beacbeac solution

Battery-powered beacons go up at every stage, booth, and installation the day before doors open, come down just as fast when the gates close, and are ready for the next event.

Surviving the weather

Problem

Rain, heat, wind — outdoor events run in whatever weather shows up, and paper schedules and laminated signs don’t hold up.

The beacbeac solution

The beacons are sealed to IP67 — dust-tight and able to survive a soaking — and battery-powered, so rain that ruins a printed schedule doesn’t stop them.

Giving the crowd something extra

Problem

Audiences want more than the set list, and a stage is a hard place to have a conversation with them.

The beacbeac solution

A beacon can carry an artist’s note, a behind-the-scenes clip, or a sponsor’s offer as easily as a schedule — something to find at every stage, for everyone who walks up.

Comparison

beacbeac vs. the old way

Festivals typically rely on printed programs, static signage, a custom festival app, or no accessible option at all. Here is how beacbeac compares.

How beacbeac compares with the usual ways festivals deliver information
Compared onbeacbeacPrinted programs / schedulesStatic signageFestival appDo nothing
Schedule updatesInstant for the next attendee — update from the dashboardNone — reprint requiredNone — replace the signPush update, but the attendee must reopen the appN/A
WeatherSealed to IP67, battery-poweredRuined by rain, blown away by windWarps, fades, or blows overN/A (lives on the attendee’s phone)N/A
Setup & strikeInstall the day before; strike in an afternoonDays of design and print lead timeDays to produce and installDevelopment time per eventNone
Works for blind and low-vision attendeesYes — screen reader and text-to-speechNoNoRarely (menu-dependent)No
Works for Deaf / hard-of-hearing attendeesYes — story text is always availableYes (if visible)Yes (if visible)Depends (if captioned)No
Cost for a multi-day eventPriced by the event, not the monthModerate (reprints add up fast)Moderate to high (production and labour)High (development cost per event)None (but attendees lost)
Works when the cell network is overloadedNo — each story needs data; add Wi-Fi near the busiest areasYesYesDepends (if content is cached)N/A

Two rows are deliberately not wins. Story text reaches Deaf and hard-of-hearing attendees, but video captions don’t yet. And every story loads over a data connection, so a packed site whose cell network buckles needs Wi-Fi near its busiest stages.

Planning an event? We’ll help you scope it.

Talk to our team

Pricing

Simple, transparent pricing

Priced by the event, not the month — pick your expected attendance, and that’s the price. No year-round commitment.

Extra beacons are $100 each — never a tier bump. $30 refundable deposit per beacon, waived when beacbeac is on site for your event. All prices CAD.

Build a free estimateSee full pricing

Event tiers

Up to 2,500up to 5 beacons included
$500
2,500 – 10,000up to 12 beacons included
$1,250
10,000 – 25,000up to 25 beacons included
$2,500
25,000 or moreup to 50 beacons included
$5,000

Access isn’t a feature we added

A festival only exists for a few days, but that’s no reason accessibility should be squeezed in at load-in. beacbeac was co-designed with Blind, Low Vision, Deaf, Deafblind, and disabled community members from the start, so a temporary site doesn’t mean a temporary accommodation.

  • Nothing to hunt for. Information arrives as attendees approach each stage or booth — no wayfinding maps, no numbered call-in codes, no app menu to search through in a crowd.
  • Readable when it’s too loud to hear. Every story’s text is on screen for anyone who can’t hear over the stage, and built-in text-to-speech reads it aloud through earbuds for anyone who’d rather listen.
  • Menus in three languages. The app’s menus and notifications follow the language already set on an attendee’s phone — English, French, or Spanish. Your content appears as you wrote it.
  • Made with screen readers, not just tested against them. The app is built for VoiceOver and TalkBack from the ground up — not retrofitted after launch.
  • Standards, not vibes. Designed to support the outcomes AODA is built around: removing barriers to information and experience for visitors with disabilities.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Can we update the schedule if a set runs late or a stage changes?

Yes — change a story in the admin console the moment something changes, and the next attendee who walks up gets the current information. No reprinting a program, and no taping up a new sign.

Will the beacons hold up in bad weather?

Yes. The beacons are sealed to IP67 — dust-tight and able to survive a soaking — and run on replaceable batteries from −20 °C to 60 °C, so rain and heat that ruin a printed schedule don’t stop them.

What happens if the cell network gets overloaded?

Each story loads over the attendee’s own data connection, so on a packed site where the cell network slows down, stories can be slow to arrive. The fix is Wi-Fi near your busiest stages; our team will help you plan where it matters most.

Do we need to commit to a whole year for a one-weekend event?

No. Events are priced by the event, from your expected attendance, with a set number of beacons included — no monthly subscription.

Contact us

How far ahead do we need to plan?

Confirm your order about six weeks before, send content about three weeks before, start promoting the download two weeks before, and we install the day before doors open. Taking it all down afterwards takes an afternoon.

How many beacons does a festival need?

Usually one per key area — each stage, the art zone, the vendor row, the entrance — rather than one per act. Around a crowd that spreads more than about 15 metres, a couple of extra beacons carrying the same story help it reach the edge (attendees moving between them may see it again). Each event tier includes a set number of beacons, and extra ones are $100 each.

Build a free estimate

What about attendees who don’t have a smartphone?

beacbeac runs on the attendee’s own phone, so it doesn’t reach someone who doesn’t carry one, and it’s built to work alongside your signage and staff.

Does beacbeac help with AODA compliance?

beacbeac delivers your own interpretive content to visitors in accessible formats — text a screen reader reads aloud, audio, and, where you provide it, video — automatically as they approach, with nothing to ask for, scan, or search. That is one of the outcomes AODA is built around: removing barriers to information and experience for visitors with disabilities. What it is not is a compliance guarantee — compliance is a determination about your organization and its whole practice, not a property of a product you bought — so your accessibility lead is the right person to judge the fit.

Does beacbeac meet WCAG standards?

WCAG is the benchmark digital accessibility is measured against, and it is how we build. The visitor app was reviewed by a third-party accessibility specialist in June 2026 — six VoiceOver and layout findings, all six fixed, each with a regression test. The admin console ships blocking automated accessibility checks on every change, plus a documented manual assistive-technology pass, and it publishes its own accessibility statement at app.beacbeac.com/accessibility — what is enforced on every change, what was checked by hand, and what is still untested. The visitor app has no published statement yet, and neither surface has an Accessibility Conformance Report, which is the artifact procurement reviews ask for by name.

How do I know I can trust beacbeac with our content and our attendees?

beacbeac is by BluHeron Interactive, in collaboration with Centre[4]Arts, co-designed from the start with Blind, Low Vision, Deaf, and Deafblind community members and grant-backed by the Canada Council for the Arts. Two surfaces have been independently audited for accessibility in 2026 — the visitor app and the operator handbook — with twelve findings between them and all twelve closed. It is Canadian-made and Canadian-hosted: visitor engagement data is anonymous, lives in a Canadian data region, and is never sold, rented, or shared with third parties for their own purposes.

Your event has stories. Let’s make them reachable.

For festivals & events

Talk to us about bringing beacbeac to your event.

Contact us today

For attendees

Get the free app — no account, and nothing to set up.

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