Padstow Christmas Festival traders lose £50,000 in deposits as festive market shut down

A devastated business owner estimates an “absolutely crippling” £50,000 worth of deposits have been lost by market traders following the shock cancellation of the Padstow Christmas Festival.

The popular annual holiday, which usually takes place in early December, has been canceled for 2024 after 17 years. Traders received an email on Friday (May 10) notifying them of the cancellation, with the event organizer citing “increasing costs” and a lack of sponsorship.

Now Tina Evans, who started the event almost two decades ago, has confirmed that those who paid deposits for the Christmas Market will not get any money back. One of the traders told CornwallLive it was “crippling” and they are both seeking legal advice.

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More than 60 traders were believed to have secured places for this year’s market, which is due to take place between December 4 and 8, with a sizeable deposit. An initial email informing them of the cancellation failed to address what would happen to any deposits and left them understandably concerned.

They have since been sent an update confirming that there is no money to return and therefore no deposit refunds will be made. The full email reads: “Sincere apologies for my late reply. I’m sure you are all in a state of shock for which I apologize and I was very upset to read a lot of nasty comments. I understand how you feel, but I have been completely honest with everyone.

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“Last week, with the withdrawal of three sponsors, it became very apparent that the festival was not viable. Costs were rising and funding was falling, so to try and protect everyone involved I made the painful decision to cancel. This decision was not taken lightly. .we considered everything.

“The festival is a non-profit organization that has been running well for the last 17 years, and for the stallholders who have been attending for a good few years you know how successful it has been. Christmas festivals around the world.

“Your non-refundable deposits, which were part of the terms and conditions we signed, set up the festival so that I could pay the deposits and running costs in the run-up to the event. full payments and then as the big bills came in and the sponsorship dropped I would have had to cancel in August then everyone would have lost a huge amount of money.

“We didn’t want this to happen. That’s why we’ve canceled now to protect as many people as possible. I’m very, very sorry, but there’s no money to refund the deposits because we’ve paid and the money won’t come back back. either.

“Like I said before, it’s been amazing working with all of you. You have fantastic products and I know you will do well going forward and thank you all for your support over the years.”

Following the email, one of the traders told CornwallLive: “This is completely unfair to all traders who have also had to pay 7% more than last year due to rising costs. With Christmas events requiring deposits 10 to 11 months in advance, small businesses suffer huge costs at the start of each year.

“However, we all know that after the events, we make the money back even more. To have lost our deposit (some traders have lost over £1,000 in deposits) is absolutely crippling.”

They added that several merchants are in the process of seeking legal advice because the contracts signed by merchants state that the deposit is “non-refundable” in the event of a merchant cancellation. It makes no reference to what will happen if the event itself is canceled by the organizers and it was also dated 2023, not 2024.

“While visitors will of course be disappointed by the cancellation of the event, I think it needs to be emphasized how much this affects the small businesses in Cornwall who trade at the event and have supported it for many years,” they added. “For most of us, this is the biggest and best event of the year. We have already started building stock for it, which we will now have to sell elsewhere (if possible).”

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CornwallLive has seen several emails from potential traders asking about refunds, saying they simply can’t afford to lose that money as a small business. Some only booked and paid deposits to attend the event just weeks ago, saying they should have been told about their concerns earlier.

Padstow Christmas Festival has been contacted for comment. A spokesman for Sharp’s Brewery, which has sponsored the event for more than a decade, confirmed it was still on board to sponsor and support the event as usual this year.