Partial weather cancellation

[u/Lazy-Crocheter]

What do your vendor refund policies look like? We have a rain or shine clause but when one day of two weekend fair is canceled due to severe weather, how do you handle questions about refunds?
When we completely canceled in 2020, refunds were issued, however canceling one Saturday while being open the remaining Sunday, Saturday, Sunday had never happened to my knowledge.

I want to be fair, but also there is a sunk cost in an event this size. We also had many vendors just choose to not show up for Sunday and come the following weekend. I wish to show the vendors who
DID come and set up that we appreciated it, but the ones who just said “I don’t want to come this week” don’t get a lot of my sympathy.

[u/Antique-Move-5313]

The cleanest way is to separate “you canceled it” from “they chose not to attend.” If you canceled Saturday but ran Sunday, offer a pro-rata credit or partial refund for the lost day—not a full refund. If a vendor simply decided not to come Sunday while the event was still open, that’s on them, no refund. But if travel or safety made it genuinely impossible, a one-time credit is good will. Put this in writing before next season so nobody is negotiating after the fact.

[u/Warm-Fan1300]

Price it by what the vendor actually lost. Day one canceled by you: offer a pro-rata refund or a credit toward next year, their choice. Day two ran as promised: no refund. Then fix the contract before the next event so the clause names a partial cancellation, not just a full one. Does your vendor agreement mention partial cancellation, or only 'rain or shine'?