Festival cancelled? How stallholders get their site fee back — and what to do when they can't

The email lands on a Thursday night: the festival is off. Maybe it’s a severe weather warning, maybe ticket sales tanked, maybe the organiser has quietly called in a liquidator. Either way, your site fee went out months ago, the coolroom is full and the fuel’s already in the tank.

So, do you get the money back? Sometimes yes, often partly, occasionally not at all. The answer turns on three things: what your stallholder agreement says, why the event was cancelled, and whether the organiser can still pay anyone. This guide walks through each one, then gives you a plan for the first 48 hours and the weeks after.

Why was it cancelled? That changes everything

Start here, because the reason for the cancellation shapes your options more than anything else.

Reason for cancellation	Your refund position	What usually happens
Organiser’s choice (low sales, headliner pulled out, internal problems)	Strongest	Refund or credit is common; push in writing if it’s not offered
Extreme weather, fire danger, flooding	Weaker	Depends on the agreement — often a transfer to a new date, sometimes partial refund, sometimes nothing
Government or police order, venue closed by authorities	Weaker	Again mostly down to the agreement
Organiser in administration or liquidation	Weakest	You join the queue of unsecured creditors
You pulled out	Your problem, mostly	Cancellation fees and forfeited deposits apply per the terms

The ACCC’s guidance on cancelled events (written for ticket buyers, but the logic is useful) says that when an organiser chooses to cancel, consumers are generally entitled to a refund, but where the cancellation is caused only by someone else — like a government ban — the remedy depends on the terms and conditions. See the ACCC’s page on buying tickets to events.

What does my stallholder agreement say?

Dig out the agreement, the trader pack and the booking confirmation. Then look for these clauses:

• Cancellation by the organiser — does it promise a refund, a credit or nothing?
• Weather or “force majeure” — what events are listed (storms, heat, fire danger, flood, pandemic) and who makes the call?
• Refund of “recoverable” fees — some agreements refund whatever the organiser can claw back, minus costs already spent.
• Transfer or rescheduling — can your fee roll over to a new date or next year’s event?
• Partial cancellations — what if day two of a three-day event is called off at lunchtime?
• Revenue shares and bonds — a bond should normally come back if you didn’t breach anything.

Real stallholder terms published by Australian events vary a lot. Some promise to refund recoverable fees if the event is cancelled for reasons beyond their control. Others state flatly that no refunds will be given for weather cancellations, offering a reschedule if possible. Same industry, very different outcomes — which is why reading the clause before paying matters so much.

Do consumer guarantees cover a business like mine?

They can. Under the Australian Consumer Law, consumer guarantees cover goods and services bought for your business, not just for home. business.gov.au says the guarantees cover goods and services that “cost less than $100,000”, and even gives a business van for deliveries as an example. Most site fees sit comfortably under that threshold.

The catch for weather: a supplier generally isn’t liable where the failure was caused by something outside its control, and bad weather is the classic example. So consumer guarantees are a solid lever when the organiser chose to cancel, and a weak one when the sky did.

Can a “no refunds, ever” clause be unfair?

Possibly. Most stallholder agreements are standard form contracts — take it or leave it, no negotiating. Since 9 November 2023, the unfair contract terms laws cover standard form contracts where a party has fewer than 100 employees or less than $10 million in annual turnover, and unfair terms can now attract penalties rather than simply being struck out. The ACCC’s media release on the changes sets out the expanded regime.

business.gov.au describes an unfair term as one that causes “a big imbalance” between the parties’ rights. A clause that lets the organiser cancel for any reason and keep every dollar, while charging you heavily if you cancel, is the kind of one-sided term worth questioning. Whether a particular clause is actually unfair is for a court to decide, but naming the issue politely in a refund request often moves the conversation along. The ACCC’s contracts page explains how the protections work.

What if the organiser has gone bust?

This is the toughest scenario, and it has hit well-known Australian festivals in recent years. Once a liquidator is appointed, your site fee becomes a debt owed by an insolvent company.

ASIC’s guide for creditors in a liquidation explains the pecking order: liquidation costs and secured creditors first, then employee wages, super and entitlements, then ordinary unsecured creditors like stallholders. Apart from shareholders, unsecured creditors are last in line, and often there’s little or nothing left.

Still worth doing:

1. Lodge a proof of debt with the liquidator, with your invoice, receipt and agreement attached.
2. Ask your bank about a card dispute if you paid by credit or debit card. Chargeback rules are set by card schemes, not by law, and time limits apply — so ask early.
3. Check your insurance policy for event cancellation or business interruption cover.
4. Watch for a rescue. Sometimes a new operator buys the event and offers past traders a credit. Stay on the mailing list.

Mid-season and suddenly short on cash for the next pitch? See if you qualify — it’s a short form and doesn’t touch your credit file.

Your 48-hour plan after a cancellation

Speed matters here, not because refunds disappear overnight, but because stock spoils and the next site fee doesn’t wait.

Hour 0–12: stop the bleeding

• Don’t travel if you haven’t left. If you’re already on the road, ask about accommodation cancellations straight away.
• Freeze or redirect perishable stock: a pop-up at your regular pitch, a local market, a corporate drop, or staff meals.
• Tell casual crew early. Check their award and what you’ve already rostered.

Hour 12–24: build the paper trail

• Save the cancellation notice, the agreement, invoices, receipts and any weather warnings or official notices.
• List every cost: site fee, power, bond, stock, packaging, fuel, accommodation, crew, and the gas refill you did for the event.

Hour 24–48: ask, in writing

• Email the organiser asking for a refund (or credit) of the site fee and bond, quoting the relevant clause.
• If the clause looks one-sided, mention that politely.
• Ask what they’re doing for traders and by when. Set a calendar reminder to follow up.

Illustrative example: the rained-out long weekend

A two-person wood-fired pizza trailer books a regional festival on the October long weekend. The site fee and power were paid in July; the bond went in at bump-in. On Friday afternoon the organiser cancels Saturday and Sunday after a severe weather warning, but day one had gone ahead.

The owners check the agreement: weather cancellations allow a transfer to next year’s event but no cash refund, and the bond comes back if the site is left clean. They pack down, request the bond in writing, accept the transfer, and sell excess stock through two weeknight pop-ups at their home pitch. The loss still stings, and it lands right as the next event’s site fee falls due, so they map the gap in their season plan before deciding how to cover it. (Illustrative only — not a real client.)

How do I protect the next site fee?

You can’t control the weather, but you can control what you sign and how you pay.

• Read the clause before you pay. Ask the organiser directly: “If you cancel for weather, what do I get back?” Get the answer in writing.
• Prefer instalments. A deposit now and the balance closer to the date limits your exposure months out. Our page on festival site fees covers ways to pay upfront without draining the business.
• Check the organiser. Look up their company on ASIC’s registers. A brand-new company running a big event isn’t a red flag on its own, but it’s worth knowing.
• Pay by card where accepted, so a dispute is at least an option.
• Look at insurance. business.gov.au’s guide to business insurance explains business interruption cover; ask a broker what event cancellation options exist for traders.
• Run the numbers with a washout built in. Our festival break-even guide shows how to test an event on a bad day, and the truck-stop calculator’s season planner lets you see what one lost weekend does to your cash.
• Don’t stack every big event in one month if a single cancellation would leave you unable to pay the next one.

What about tax and BAS?

A site fee you’ve paid to earn business income is generally a business expense, and that doesn’t change because the event didn’t happen. If you registered for GST and claimed the GST credit, and the organiser later refunds the fee, the refund usually needs an adjustment on a later BAS. Keep the paperwork together and let your accountant or BAS agent know — especially if a big refund or a write-off lands near the end of a quarter.

Lost an event? Let’s keep the season rolling

A cancelled festival rarely ends a mobile business. What hurts is the timing: the money’s gone out, the takings haven’t come in, and the next site fee, stock order and BAS bill are lined up behind it. That’s exactly the gap we help festival traders bridge — and we understand that a lumpy season isn’t the same as a struggling business.

Enquiring takes about 60 seconds, and there’s no credit check when you first enquire. We don’t send your details to a pile of lenders, so your phone won’t start ringing off the hook with people you’ve never heard of. A real person who understands how event season earns reads your situation and calls you to talk through what might work, whether that’s covering the next pitch or setting up a buffer for the rest of summer. Our page on event-season cash flow shows how other traders plan around the gaps.

One favour: please fill the form in accurately — what you turn over, what was lost and what’s coming up. It helps us match the right option first time.

See if you qualify →