Ariana Kallas has fought her entire life to have the same experience as her peers, and she is continuing her efforts to see the Taylor Swift concert next month at Levi’s Stadium — and officials there are willing to help.
Kallas has used a wheelchair since she was 7 years old, from a rare genetic disease that she was diagnosed with when she was 2 years old. She is now 17 years old and recently graduated from El Camino High School in South San Francisco.
The Kallas family has eclectic taste in music and often attend concerts together. They have attended multiple events at Levi’s Stadium and her father, George Kallas, said he usually looks to buy ADA tickets or regular tickets and then exchange them at the box office for ADA accessible seats the day of the show. Taylor Swift is Ariana Kallas’ favorite musician and her father rushed to buy tickets as soon as they went on sale in November. However, there weren’t any ADA accessible seats available. He contacted the stadium and asked if they could exchange the ones he purchased for ADA accessible seats, but was told there weren’t any available, he said.
“I will be forced to carry her down the steep steps of the stadium and could risk dropping her and injuring her and myself,” George Kallas said. “She faces everyday challenges as it is. ... When there is a family night to go see some entertainment, why does it have to be hard?”
Through a string of emails, George Kallas was told he needed to request the tickets and he later received a response. Levi’s ADA Exchange Department responded in February saying both of Swift’s shows were sold out and there were no ADA accessible seats available.
When it seemed like there weren’t many options left, Ariana Kallas took to Twitter. She found multiple other people with disabilities around the country having similar issues obtaining ADA accessible seats for the Taylor Swift show, she said. Her post made waves on Twitter, shared nearly 30,000 times and has more than 330,000 views.
On Tuesday, Levi’s Stadium responded to the Kallases’ situation.
“We believe everyone should be able to enjoy concerts and events at Levi’s Stadium, no matter what their accommodation needs may be. There has been unprecedented demand for the Taylor Swift shows,” a spokesperson for Levi’s Stadium said. “ADA seats were made available as part of the original on-sale and are already sold out for fans requiring various accommodations. We have reached out to the Kallas family, and are continuing to explore potential solutions.”
George Kallas is happy Levi’s Stadium is reaching out and trying to work with his family to find a solution.
“I can’t wait to talk to them and I hope it all works out because we are excited for the show and I just want her to enjoy the night with the family,” George Kallas said.
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Even more than being her favorite musician, Taylor Swift is Ariana Kallas’ role model.
“I love her music but ... it is important to have a woman role model like her,” Ariana Kallas said. “She has been a really big advocate for women’s rights and LGBTQ and all those types of things and I think it’s really important for people to have someone like that to look up to.”
But Ariana Kallas is a role model and advocate in her own right. During her time at El Camino High School, the school built a science wing and the only way in and out of the building was through stairs or an elevator.
She emailed the principal and asked how she would be expected to get out of the building during a fire. Her concerns reached the superintendent and eventually the school built a bridge and decided to install a plaque naming it after Ariana Kallas for her advocacy for people with disabilities.
When it came time to graduate, the school’s stage wasn’t ADA accessible and she was told to roll in front of it to receive her diploma, but she fought against that as well.
“She said no, I want to be able to go up there for graduation and I want to cross that stage, I don’t want to roll in front of it, I want to cross it like every other kid,” George Kallas said.
The school addressed the issues and built a new stage with a ramp, he said.
“It helped me not feel afraid to advocate for everyday people’s rights, I was a senior when the bridge was built and so I realized it might not help me out much, but at least I know future students who are in wheelchairs are going to have something to help them,” Ariana Kallas said. “It’s nice knowing that a lot of people are going to have a better experience with these changes on campus.”
George Kallas said he just wants his daughter to continue to speak up for herself because the changes she spearheaded at El Camino High School will be part of her legacy.
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