Rail strike: Hen weekends, festivals and concert-goers hit

Bethan Lewis (right) has been organising the hen do for friend Alice Lally

"Everything's been booked for months."

Three days of a national rail strike is complicating the hen weekend plans Bethan Lewis from Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan has worked on for months.

She is organising a trip for 11 to Manchester and says everything is now up in the air.

"We're now asking people to find more money to potentially drive up now… as well as parking in the city centre which isn't ideal," she said.

Bride-to-be Alice Lally said she had been looking forward to the weekend, the first time she will have gone away since her baby was born in October.

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"I'm trying not to think the worst, but it definitely makes things a little bit more stressful. I think getting back will be hard too."

The friends will wait until Friday morning to see how much disruption there is, but are also concerned about traffic if they decide to travel by car.

"Glastonbury's on so it will be a busy one," Ms Lally said.

Smaller festivals around the country are also affected by the strike.

The festival will show short films and host talks from authors, but organisers say key guests have pulled out

Vampire festival in the dark over delegates

Organisers of the International Vampire Film & Arts Festival in Cardiff, which takers place from Wednesday to Friday, said the industrial action had already impacted them significantly.

"We've had several key guests pull out, including some American actors and directors and film critic and author Kim Newman, because they can't now guarantee they can get down here.

"Other filmmakers and authors and ticket-buying delegates have said they can't now travel here from anywhere else in the UK," said organiser Craig Hooper.

"But the biggest problem is for our international guests. We've got several delegates travelling from the United States, along with a few from Romania, Scandinavia and mainland Europe."

"They can't get refunds for their flights at this late stage so I'm really concerned that some of them might get stranded in London or might miss their return flights because they're stuck in Cardiff."

Barry Manilow fan Julia McCart is travelling around the UK and has been affected by the strike

Could it still be magic for Julia?

Julia McCart from Glengormley, Co Antrim is travelling around the country following Barry Manilow on tour as part of her 80th birthday celebrations.

After seeing the singer perform in Cardiff on Monday, she was due to travel to Newcastle on Tuesday where she was set to meet him.

The Manilow fan then planned to travel to a concert in Glasgow on Thursday and back home in Belfast on Friday.

"It has caused quite a bit of hassle," she said, especially as her flight from Belfast to Bristol was cancelled too, but it was nonetheless worth it.

"To me and maybe to all of us fans, he's a great artist, a great showman and musician," she said. "I've tried my best to follow him.

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