The ARTS ARE FOR EVERYONE program works to educate and eliminate social and economic barriers that currently prevent some community members from engaging in a cultural event. This is achieved through:

• AAFE FREE SHOW PASSES available at regional libraries throughout Pictou County, which can be borrowed with a library card to attend a performance.  The passes give opportunities to community members to enjoy a performance; especially those faced with financial barriers. Additional information can be obtained by contacting your local library. 
  

  AAFE Library Pass

• To learn more about accessing passes, click here to learn more. 
• Free or discounted tickets to organizations, community groups and schools to assist with their goals of enriching lives through inclusion and education through a live arts experience. 
• Events and programming presented that highlight social issues to create dialogue and inspire actions to reduce the affects these issues might have on the lives of individuals. 

Improved Accessibility at deCoste Performing Arts Centre

The deCoste Performing Arts Centre has made several exciting enhancements to the facility making it more accessible and safer for its patrons.  All these measures are grouped under the theatre’s “Arts Are for Everyone” Program. The upgrades and new programs were made possible through the annual fundraising gala and funding secured from the Sutherland Harris Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture & Heritage.

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  Patron using chair lift

  Installed of a ramp to the stage and a mechanical lift from the Murray Room to the floor (General Admission- Section A) now making both areas accessible to those with mobility challenges. 
• Acquired a wheelchair to ease transportation of patrons as required. 
• Installed a hearing assist loop that provides high quality audio to patrons with T-coil enabled hearing aids. The deCoste also has two portable receivers that are available to hearing challenged patrons who don’t have suitable hearing aids.  
• In the event of a cardiac emergency, the deCoste now has an AED (automated external defibrillation) unit installed.

Any patrons requiring the use of the wheelchair, lift or hearing assist receivers are asked to advise the box office at the time of ticket purchase both over the phone or online to ensure accommodations can be made for seating arrangements in the appropriate location.