Television industry executives stranded at the MipTV market in Cannes, thanks to the giant cloud of volcanic ash that has closed many of Europe's airports, are getting creative as they try to get home, while this weekend's Coachella Music Festival is facing a growing number of cancellations due to stranded musicians.
Layar Reality Browser co-founder Claire Boonstra, stranded at MipTV, tweeted on Friday morning: “Hello people stuck #MIPTV and around. I have arranged a bus back from Cannes to Amsterdam for 40 people, tomorrow. Who wants to join?” (Update: Boonstra, in response to TheWrap's query about her progress, said late Friday via Twitter: "i will leave sunday by car - managed to arrange something with people i know in St Tropez. Was a hassle but succeeded!")
Wednesday's eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano is wreaking havoc with travel plans, as its plume of ash spreads across Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and northern Europe. Further complicating travel is a pending French train strike, which could 
affect availability of seats on the Eurostar train that runs from Paris to London under the English Channel. (However, when TheWrap searched on Friday afternoon for Saturday tickets from Paris to London, there were seats available.)
Dawn Simpson, senior policy exec for U.K. producers' association Pact, told C21 Media that many companies attending MipTV had been pulling together to jointly rent buses. On the bright side, she said, the normally quiet Thursday – MipTV's final day – had been surprisingly busy.
At about 1 p.m. on Friday, British Airways said it was canceling all flights to and from London airports through Saturday.
Many Mip attendees were turning to Twitter for assistance and commiseration, or just sharing their convoluted escape routes. Cross-media expert Gavin McGarry of Jump Wire Media tweeted: “Tip: Saturday trains to Paris 705am and 1105am. Just get on the train. Pay later. People did this today & got to Paris.”
Film/TV producer Elisar Cabrera ended up taking a 12-hour drive from Cannes to Calais, “Night at hotel then mad rush for ferry in the a.m. Escape from #miptv almost done.”
Others offered space in their cars, lifts to the Toulouse airport or news of what was working for others.
Jeroen Jorritsma, international sales manager at Dutch TV distributor FCCE, tweeted: “First 200 kilometers done! Enjoying a nice drive home with 7 colleagues in 1 minivan from #miptv to Amsterdam.”
Others took the long way home; one Starz executive was on his way back to Los Angeles via Barcelona, with a total of four flights and an overnight stay in New York along the way.
Ian Laing, a principal in British design firm LCD, was planning to enjoy his unexpected weekend in Nice. He said via Facebook that some RDF Rights employees at MipTV were investigating hiring a private plane to get them back to London. (It was his understanding that airports in the northern U.K., such as Preston, were open.)
