Carlow Arts Festival to bring "cutting edge technology" to this year's events The first time this technology has been used as part of an Irish festival, it will allow audiences to attend live events, talks and screened content, while still remaining socially distanced in a safe environment. Open Mind, Closed System by Alan James Burns, a Digital visual artist is working in the Virtual Reality and 360 Ambisonic Sound realm explores what it means to be an individual person living within the complex everyday systems we inhabit. (Image: Carlow Arts Festival) The Carlow Arts Festival has built its very own virtual festival campus for the series of events running from the 4 - 13 June at this year's festival.