The show must go on.

Despite almost a foot of snow being dumped on Greater Lowell Thursday afternoon into the evening, the annual KISS 108 Jingle Ball at the Tsongas Arena went on as scheduled.

“It’s a radio show with seven major national acts that have four shows just this weekend in New York, Los Angeles and Florida. You can’t reschedule this type of show. The tickets say right on them ‘No refunds. No exchanges.’,” explained Craig Gates, general manager of the Tsongas Arena.

Since the majority of the fan base for acts like Avril Lavigne and Good Charlotte are tweens and teens, many parents called to complain about their decision to proceed with the concert. The arena received calls and e-mails from irate parents, as did the Boston radio station, Lowell and state police according to Gates. Many were concerned about the driving conditions. Overall about 5,000 ticketholders attended out of the 6,400 sold. It was ultimately KISS 108's decision to hold the concert.

One of those angry fathers was, Martin Kardenetz of Billerica. His 17-year-old daughter paid $126.50 for each of her two tickets, one of which was for her handicapped mother. Kardenetz was watching the forecast and logging onto the arena’s web site to see if there was any cancellation announcement.

It was ridiculous. They did not think up a contingency plan? We all have to suck it up and pay for it,” he said.

Kardenetz teenage daughter was very disappointed she could not attend the show. He offered to drive them, but after hearing horror stories about traffic jams and accidents, they decided it was not safe to venture out. He called SMG Management who informed him that there was nothing they could do about it.

“No matter what we couldn’t win. They were asking ‘how dare we put their children in danger’. But ultimately it is the parents’ decision on whether or not to let their kids go,” he said.

Gates called both the Lowell Police and the Department of Public Works to warn them that they were going through with the snow even with the foul weather.

There were a few hitches. The headliner, rapper producer extrodinaire, Timbaland, was stuck in a traffic snarl in Hartford, Conn. After going two miles in two hours, he decided they were not going to make it in time. It also took singer, Colbie Caillat, 45 minutes to arrive at the arena from The DoubleTree Hotel only a couple blocks away that ordinarily it is about a 10-minute walk. Morning on-air talents, Matt Segal and Billy Costa were also no-shows.

“Otherwise, it was a great show. People were so thrilled to get out of the snow and the traffic. It was great,” said Gates.