Setting a wet-weather cancellation policy that protects your business
How to decide when to pull out of a market for weather, and how to set expectations with organisers and staff in advance.
Deciding whether to trade through bad weather shouldn't be a stressful, ad hoc call made at 6am staring at a radar map. A clear policy, agreed in advance, removes the guesswork and protects both your safety and your relationship with organisers and staff.
Know the market's own cancellation rules first
Many markets have their own severe-weather policy and site-fee refund terms. Understand these before deciding your own threshold — some markets refund fees for organiser-cancelled days but not vendor-initiated withdrawals.
Set objective thresholds, not gut feel
A specific rule — 'we don't trade in sustained winds over X, or heavy rain forecast for more than 50% of trading hours' — removes the pressure of deciding in the moment and gives staff a clear standard to expect.
Consider equipment and safety risk, not just comfort
Gazebos in high wind and slippery surfaces around fryers are genuine safety hazards, not just an inconvenience. Weather decisions should weigh staff and customer safety at least as heavily as lost revenue.
Communicate the decision early
Cancelling the night before, where forecasts allow it, gives staff time to plan and customers time to know not to expect you — far better than a last-minute cancellation that wastes everyone's morning.
Build the cost of occasional cancellation into your planning
A small number of weather cancellations per season is a normal cost of outdoor trading, not a failure. Factor an expected cancellation rate into your seasonal cash flow forecast rather than treating each one as an unplanned shock.
Track weather-related cancellations over time
Logging cancelled events in CartFlow alongside your regular calendar shows the real pattern over a season — which venues or months carry the highest weather risk — useful evidence for choosing next year's calendar.