There have been high profile cancellations but some venues have managed to keep events – in some form – ticking over, writes FIONA McCANN

THE VOLCANIC ash cloud has caused havoc for more than just holidaymakers, with numerous arts and culture organisations feeling the impact of this ongoing event.

The National Concert Hall has already been forced to cancel a number of events, including a performance from British tenor Russell Watson scheduled for last Thursday and last night’s scheduled performance by the Luxembourg Philharmonic.

The NCH is making every effort to ensure ticket holders are contacted about cancellations – they are urged to monitor nch.ie for hourly updates.

Yet despite its best efforts, some ticket holders did not receive the news of cancellations in time, including one woman who arrived at the venue having travelled from San Diego for the Watson performance.

“There are sad stories like that, and it made us realise what a big impact the airline industry has on our business,” says Rosita Wolfe of the NCH. “The concert hall will take a hit, and it’s disappointing for audiences and musicians.”

In some cases, however, not even a volcano can stop the show from going on. When pianist Boris Berezovsky couldn’t keep his date with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra on Friday, Irish pianist Finghin Collins stepped into the breach.

For a Saturday conference at the concert hall entitled Your Brain And Music, the main speaker Daniel Levitan was prevented from flying in, but gave his address live to the audience via webcam. Those with tickets for the Kenyan Boys Choir tonight will not be disappointed either, as the 25 members have made plans to travel by bus and ferry from Inverness to ensure they make it to Dublin in the event of their flights being cancelled.

Concert Promoter POD Entertainment had their scheduled appearance by Green Velvet at the Tripod Friday Club last Friday cancelled, as well as the hotly anticipated performances by LCD Soundsystem originally scheduled for tonight and tomorrow night, which have been postponed until further notice. “Show postponements often don’t have a huge financial impact,” says Elaine Byrne of POD Entertainment.

“Arrangements need to be changed and marketing repeated but our main concern is the disappointment and inconvenience to the act and to ticket holders.” Ticket holders worried about an upcoming performance are encouraged to check out their website, pod.ie, while full refunds are available for all those with tickets for a cancelled show.

“We do our best to publicise any postponement or cancellation through press and online. Word spreads very effectively that way,” says Byrne. “It’s very rare that ticket holders turn up regardless. The Chocolate Bar is open for anyone needing to drown their sorrows.”

The Dublin Writers’ Festival was also forced to cancel its scheduled appearance by writer Philip Pullman when he was prevented from travelling from Britain for Saturday’s event. The event had been scheduled some six weeks ahead of the festival itself in order to help publicise the launch of the programme.

“It had a double impact in our planning, in terms of not providing that platform, but also the disappointing one of not being able to host Pullman,” says Sinead Connolly, festival director. “It was costly to some extent but we were fortunate in that it was in partnership with Trinity Long Room Hub, so it wasn’t like other events, where you may have to pay for the full costs of the venue.”

The Franco-Irish Literary Festival, also held over the weekend, found itself down nine writers due to travel in from various countries for the event. Though French-Canadian writer Catherine Mavrikakis and French poet Jacques Réda were the only foreign attendees to make it, all the Irish writers on the programme were able to attend.

In the end, the only event cancelled entirely was a Sunday brunch, with Réda sitting in on two panels rather than the one originally scheduled, and Mavrikakis also increasing her weekend workload.

“It was not a disaster at all,” says Hélène Melon of the Alliance Française. “Thursday night we were quite worried, but it was more than okay in the end. We had loads of congratulations from people, and more or less the same attendance.”

Galway’s Cúirt Festival, which kicks off today, has also been forced to cancel a few events, including a scheduled reading by US author Mary Gaitskill tonight alongside Roddy Doyle. Her place will be filled by Anne Enright, though festival programme director Maureen Kennelly is optimistic that other authors scheduled for later in the week may still make it.

“The fantastic thing is these people are standing by with the bag packed, and we’re booking them on flights every day,” she says, adding that the festival is looking at using Skype videoconferencing techniques for cases where writers are prevented from attending.

“It’s very disappointing,” admits Kennelly.

“There will be some sort of financial repercussion, but there will still be loads for people to come and see, and our focus at the moment is reassuring people that the festival will go on.”