Helsinki Pride 2023 Accessibility

Parade route: Senaatintori > Aleksanterinkatu > Mannerheimintie > Pohjoisesplanadi > Fabianinkatu > Eteläinen Makasiinikatu > Kasarmikatu > Neitsytpolku > Kaivopuisto.

The length of the route is approximately 2,8 km.

From Aleksanterinkatu to Senate Square, the street has quite high paving, therefore free accessibility is possible only via the lowerings of crosswalks. Helsinki Pride has a small portable ramp that is available for usage for moving from Senate Square to Aleksanterinkatu. Security officers move the ramp from one starting point to another.

Aleksanterinkatu (street) is overall cobblestone. Furthermore the street has two tram rails, which might make moving with aid challenging.

First section of the route is cobblestone from Senate Square to Pohjois-Esplanadi. From Fabianinkatu onwards the pavement is asphalt, but the short section on the Eteläinen Makasiinikatu next to Kasarmintori (square) is cobblestone. At the end of Makasiinikatu is a small section that is quite steep. Declination is about 7,5 degrees. Cobblestone continues on Kasarmikatu to the corner of Pieni Roobertinkatu.

Besides cobblestone, accessibility issues concern the steepness of the hills. The beginning of Kasarmikatu is uphill and the slope increases towards the end. Peak of declination is about 7,8 degrees towards Surgical Hospital. After uphill there is downhill slope that is steepest at the declination of 7,8 degrees. Concerning the steepness of the hills one might need assistance.

Apart from hills and cobblestones, the parade route is easy and pleasant to walk.

The area in Kaivopuisto used for Pride should be even terrain and easy to move around. The area has even paths which lead to the service stations.

The park has four separate WC areas, all of which will have accessible toilets marked. The area will have a total of 14 accessible toilets.

Iso Puistotie will be closed to traffic for the time of the celebration but will be open as an accessible way to arrive at the front of Kaivohuone.

In case it rains a lot, it can become difficult to move around the park area.

Klaus K Hotel doesn’t have a parking area of its own. There is a parking garage, Aimo Park Iso-Erottaja, with paid parking near the hotel.

The parking garage has accessible parking spaces and an accessible way to Bulevardi.

There is space at the front of the hotel for escorting someone by car.

The main entrance of the hotel connects straight to a public walkway. The walkway is hard and even.

The main entrance has a 4-5 cm tall doorstep. The doors of the main entrance have an electrical opening mechanism that uses a motion detector. Looking from the street, there is another entrance on the right side of the main entrance that also has a doorstep, and the doors can be opened manually. The entrance on Erottajankatu has stairs.

Pride House info and the hotel reception can be found on the ground level. They provide information about accessibility and can help with getting around the hotel.

After entering the hotel, an elevator can be found on the left side of the lobby. The elevator is 110 cm wide, and 190 cm long. While all of the floors are connected by an elevator, stages 1, 2, and 3 as well as the Sky terrace (rooftop terrace) have stairs leading to them. The hallways on above ground-level floors are carpeted and have small slopes.

The hotel doesn’t have any induction loops.

Accessibility information about the event venues at Klaus K can be found below.

Accessible WC by the Dine area: The general WC space is behind a heavy door. In this space, the accessible WC is located in the middle. Looking from the doorway, there is approx. a 95 cm wide space on the right side of the toilet. On the left side, there isn’t space to move about as the distance between the sink and the toilet is approx. 50 cm. Support rails are attached to the toilet.

Accessible WC by the Lounge area: There is a two-part double-acting door leading to the general WC space. When both of the doors are open, the width of the doorway is approx. 120 cm. The accessible WC is located in the back. On the left side of the toilet, there is approx. 100 cm of space while, on the right side, there is approx. 95 cm of space. Support rails are attached to the toilet.

There are no accessible parking spaces at Kaivohuone. Kaivohuone does not have its own parking spaces, but next to Kaivohuone is the city's parking lot at Iso puistotie 1, Helsinki. There are no accessible parking spaces in the car park. There is space for escorts in front of the main entrance at Iso puistotie 1, Helsinki.

The entrance to Kaivohuonee is on a hill. The entrance to Kaivohuone is not at street level, but there is an unobstructed passage along the ramp to the left of the entrance. The ramp is a grating ramp with a 90 degree turn. The ramp has a handrail on the right side of the ramp. The slope does not meet the accessibility recommendations and is steeper than recommended. The turning circle on the landing in front of the entrance is 96 cm, which means that there is less turning space for the door than recommended.

Upon reaching the lobby of Kaivohuone, you will reach the cloakroom of the restaurant. To the left of the cloakroom is a corridor with a cloakroom counter for more accessible transactions. The restaurant premises are generally accessible. Exceptions to this are the small spaces at the bay window and to the left of the ballroom, which are only accessed by two steps. The height of the service points in the restaurant space is 110 cm. Kaivohuone’s service points do not have induction loops, and the material is not available in braille.

There is no accessible access to Kaivohuone’s terrace from inside the restaurant. The accessible entrance to the terrace is from the outside on the left side of the main entrance past the main door. The threshold for the terrace entrance is 4 cm high. The entrance to the terrace is led by a tiled ramp, which does not meet the accessibility recommendations but is steeper than recommended. The height of the terrace service point is 110 cm.

There is one accessible toilet in Kaivohuone. The toilet is located in the restaurant lobby on the right-hand side of the entrance. The toilet door has no electronic opening mechanism and the door is heavy to use.

The toilet has a 96 cm turning circle, which means that there is less turning space than recommended. There is 80 cm of space on each side of the toilet seat. There is space behind the seat for assistance.