The National Arts Centre Orchestra performed in blue jeans and T-shirts Thursday night at Charlottetown's Confederation Centre after having to leave their formal wear behind in Newfoundland.

After performing in St. John's Tuesday the orchestra packed its gear on to the ferry to Nova Scotia, but the ferry broke down.

The National Arts Centre Orchestra performed in street clothes Thursday night in Charlottetown. CBC

Emergency plans found the 68-member orchestra travelling by chartered plane, and short on space. Tuxedos and long black skirts were sacrificed to make room for instruments, with cellos strapped in beside passengers.

That meant the orchestra members were left to perform in their street clothes.

"Ten years from now, you may not remember the exact details of a concert, but you'll definitely remember when the ferry broke down," said solo pianist Jan Lisiecki. .

"I think it brings it down from being this super-fancy event to something we can all relate to," said violist Paul Casey.

"I loved it," said Sean Rice, second clarinet. "I think its really fun for us and created a buzz."

An orchestra of this calibre comes to P.E.I. only about once a decade, so nobody in the audience seemed to care what the musicians were wearing.

"I thought this would be in uniform, but its cool that they're not because its P.E.I. and its pretty casual here," said Stan Davis.

Isaac Williams, a third-year music student at UPEI, loaned his bass to the National Arts Centre Orchestra for its P.E.I. performance. CBC

Managing director Christopher Deacon said some of the instruments were just too big to travel by charter plane.

"If you can imagine how big a timpani is, but the box that goes around it, of course, has to be a lot bigger to wrap around it," said Deacon.

Deacon said the PEI Symphony and the UPEI music department were very helpful tracking down instruments from local musicians, including four standup basses.

The sheet music was emailed, just in case they weren't able to dig it out of the crates before boarding their flight.

"They were really able to put everything together at the right moment and we're really lucky to have them tonight," said audience member Fabrice Berue.

There are four more cities left on this tour, but no more ferry travel.