Accessibility & Service Animals

Terrain & Mobility

GARF is a large outdoor Festival built across natural terrain. Pathways throughout the village include combinations of:

• Grass
• Packed dirt
• Gravel
• Slopes and inclines
• Concrete or paved sections in some areas

Wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, and other mobility devices are welcome. Major Festival areas and experiences are generally accessible to guests using mobility devices, although terrain, routes, and access to individual historic-style structures vary.

Travel through portions of the village can be physically demanding. Weather may also affect conditions — rain can make grass and dirt areas softer, muddy, uneven, or more difficult to navigate.

Artisan Shoppes

GARF's artisan marketplace includes a mix of permanent and historic-style structures. Entrances, thresholds, interior layouts, and available maneuvering space may vary from one shoppe to another.

Wheelchairs & Mobility Devices

Wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, canes, and other mobility devices appropriate for pedestrian use are welcome. We do not ask for medical documentation for an ordinary mobility device.

Mobility aids are not treated as costume weapons simply because they resemble a staff, cane, or other prop. See our Weapons, Costume Props & Prohibited Items policy.

Guests using larger mobility devices should remain aware of particularly narrow or crowded areas and follow reasonable safety instructions from Festival staff.

ADA Parking & Drop-Off

ADA parking is available. Guests using ADA parking should:

• Enter through the main entrance
• Follow posted ADA signage
• Display a valid accessible parking placard or license plate

Drop-offs may be made at the designated rideshare and drop-off area. Please follow current onsite signage when arriving, as parking layouts are adjusted from season to season.

For current directions and parking details before your visit, see our Directions & Parking page.

Finding the Best Route

Because terrain, weather, and crowd conditions can change throughout the day, the easiest route between two destinations may vary. Ask Guest Services or any GARF employee for help identifying the most practical route to:

• Stages
• Food areas
• Restrooms
• Artisan shoppes
• First Aid
• Seating areas
• Exits
• Other guest destinations

Service Animals

GARF welcomes service animals in accordance with applicable disability-access laws.

Under the ADA, a service animal is generally a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability, and the work or task must be directly related to that person's disability.

Psychiatric service dogs individually trained to perform disability-related tasks qualify as service animals. Emotional support, comfort, companionship, or therapy alone does not qualify an animal as a service animal under the ADA.

At Entry

GARF does not require

• Certification
• Registration papers
• Identification cards
• Medical documentation
• Proof of disability

Our staff do not

• Ask what a person's disability is
• Require the animal to demonstrate its task
• Require a vest or special harness

A vest, patch, ID card, or certification document is not required to establish service-animal status.

While On Festival Grounds

Service animals must remain under the handler's control. A service animal should be harnessed, leashed, or tethered unless the handler's disability prevents use of those devices, or the devices interfere with the animal's safe and effective performance of its work or tasks.

When those devices cannot be used, the animal must remain under control through voice, signal, or another effective means.

Handlers are responsible for

• Supervision
• Control
• Care
• Cleanup after the animal

GARF employees are not responsible for feeding, handling, supervising, or caring for a guest's service animal.

Safety & Control

A service animal may be required to leave Festival grounds if:

• The animal is out of control and the handler does not regain effective control
• The animal is not housebroken
• The individual animal presents a direct threat that cannot be addressed through reasonable measures

Any decision is based on the actual behavior of the individual animal rather than breed, appearance, or assumptions.

If a service animal must be removed, the guest is given an opportunity to continue visiting the Festival without the animal when reasonably possible.

Emotional Support & Companion Animals

Emotional support, therapy, comfort, and companion animals do not qualify as service animals under the ADA when they are not individually trained to perform disability-related work or tasks. They are subject to GARF's general pet rules.

For current pet information, see our Frequently Asked Questions.

Service Dogs in Training

Georgia law provides public-access rights for qualifying service dogs in training when applicable requirements are met. A service dog in training must meet the requirements of applicable Georgia law regarding training status, control, behavior, and identification.

Guests or trainers bringing a service dog in training should notify an onsite manager at entry.

Trained Miniature Horses

Federal ADA regulations include a separate provision for miniature horses individually trained to perform work or tasks for a person with a disability. GARF evaluates a trained miniature horse individually in accordance with applicable ADA requirements.

Considerations include

• Whether the animal is housebroken
• Whether it is under the handler's control
• Whether the Festival can accommodate the animal's type, size, and weight
• Whether its presence would compromise legitimate safety requirements

Please Do Not Distract Working Animals

A service animal may be actively working even when its task is not obvious. Please do not pet, feed, call to, intentionally distract, frighten, harass, or interfere with a service animal without the handler's permission.

Parents and guardians, please help us by supervising children around working animals.

Planning Your Visit

GARF covers a large outdoor site, and a full Festival day can involve significant movement between areas. Guests with mobility concerns may want to allow additional travel time between destinations, and weather, crowd levels, and ground conditions may affect travel throughout the village.