Barriers to entry

Participation is not always possible. Barriers remain across the sector, from the cost of equipment to the resource required even for small-scale hosting. Does immersive work need to be large-scale to justify investment?

At Frameless Creative x National Portrait Gallery in MediaCity, the presentation was expertly designed, with a clear booking system, warm hospitality and an accessible ticket price. Yet participation remained minimal. Visitors watched, moved for a better viewpoint and absorbed the projections, but stayed outside the experience. This revealed a tension between immersive as spectacle and immersive as agency.

By contrast, Supermassive UK created multiple entry points for co-creation at their Depot Mayfield experience. Visitors generated AI artworks through voice prompts, shaped soundscapes using illuminated tubes and remixed audio with magnetic tiles. Louis reflected on the need to communicate the experience clearly: “I struggle with the term ‘art’ because it feels distancing. I prefer ‘experience’ or ‘playground’ because it feels more accessible. But calling it a playground set the wrong expectations for parents, so we reintroduced the term ‘art experience’ to help people understand what it is.”

Their accessible ticketing model, including plans for community pricing, demonstrated how participation can be expanded by reducing financial barriers.

Factory International also demonstrated how access can be embedded at a systemic level. Aviva Studios hosts a wide range of programming, from large-scale performances to artist-led workshops and public events, with many activities offered at no cost and others priced at an accessible level. During our visit, tickets for major performances such as the reimagined Hamlet were available for ten pounds, a deliberate effort to remove financial barriers even for high-profile work. The venue’s approach aligns with emerging models such as Supermassive UK’s community pricing, positioning accessibility not as an optional add-on but as a core principle of cultural programming.

During our July research trip, Manchester also offered a free bus service that connected key areas of the city throughout the day and evening. This made it possible to travel between venues, installations and neighbourhoods without cost, further reducing barriers to participation. These forms of civic infrastructure, although not always discussed alongside immersive work, have a direct impact on who can access culture and how easily people can move through a creative ecosystem.

Echo Salford also demonstrated how access can be expanded beyond traditional cultural venues. Their free immersive music heritage trail invited visitors to explore the city’s world-renowned independent music history through interactive soundscapes and storytelling woven into public routes. It reactivated local heritage while remaining entirely free to experience, creating an open, self-guided form of immersion that did not require ticketing or specialist equipment.

Taken together with The Herds, Trespass and Factory International’s accessible pricing, these examples highlight a wider cultural pattern across Manchester. Much of what we encountered during our trip was either free or donation based, and the events that did charge offered clear, varied entry points to ensure people could participate. This reinforced a consistent ethos across the city. Immersion is not only a creative approach, it is supported by infrastructure, transport, place-making and a civic commitment to reducing barriers.

“We talk about immersion, but who is being immersed? If it is the same people in the room each time, we are not evolving the medium.” - Anny Deery, Producer, Inner Ear UK

We also saw inclusive design approaches across Manchester, from mobile-first augmented environments to sensory-led installations. However, many practitioners shared that inclusion is still treated as an enhancement rather than a foundation.