Las Vegas Tattoo still a go; shifts to larger venue; cancellation messages left in error

The Las Vegas International Tattoo is still very much a go, according to organizers, who said that messages to those who purchased tickets saying that the event was cancelled were made in error. According to Executive Director Dennis Nolan, the event is being moved from the Orleans Arena to the larger Las Vegas Silver Bowl, a stadium with a seating capacity of almost 37,000.

The original venue for the tattoo was Orleans Arena, which has a capacity of around 9,000.

pipes|drums reported earlier that the event was allegedly cancelled after receiving numerous messages from those who had purchased advance tickets, who said that they were told that the event was off and that they would receive a full refund.

Nolan said that the ticketing contractor was only supposed to have informed buyers of the change in venue and expressed his dismay that anyone was told the tattoo was cancelled.

The tattoo is now the main event left after the group announced with fanfare almost a year ago to the date that $2-million had been secured to run and market the tattoo and a pipe band competition. Following a perhaps unexpectedly poor response from North America-based Grade 1 and Grade 2 bands, most of which balked at the $1,000 to $6,000 travel allowance, the pipe band competition was cancelled in late October 2010.

Nolan said that the Silver Bowl allows for greater flexibility and scalability, depending on ticket sales.

The seventh annual separately organized Las Vegas Celtic Gathering & Highland Games are still scheduled for April 16-017, 2011.