Volcano Won’t Worry Airwaves

Four years ago volcanic ash spewing out of a volcano called Eyjafjallajokull — not to mention the collapse of the country’s banking system – almost put an end to the event.

This time the locals are confident that another eruption, this time from a volcano called Bardarbunga, would likely blow over before the event takes place Nov. 5-9.

“With 70 days to go until Iceland Airwaves starts we hope that should the volcano erupt it will do so long before then,” festival marketing manager Kamilla Ingibergsdóttir told Pollstar. The 2010 eruption caused a week of international aviation chaos, with more than 100,000 flights canceled. Aviation officials closed Europe’s air space for five days out of fear that volcanic ash could harm jet engines.

Although Bardarbunga has been rumbling away beneath an ice cap and has already caused a couple of earthquakes, on Aug. 24 Iceland lowered its aviation alert level from red to orange.

The country’s meteorological office has denied reports that the volcano has already experienced a “subglacial eruption.”

The met office has also cautioned that seismic activity at the volcano, which has been hit by thousands of earth tremors over the past week, was not slowing, and an eruption remained a possibility in coming days.

The 150 or so acts hoping that Iceland’s tummy stops rumbling for Iceland Airwaves include Anna Calvi, The Flaming Lips, and FM Belfast.