# Cancel an event | Ticket Fairy Guides 1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/) 2. [Guides](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) 3. Cancel an event Setting up an event # Cancel an event A venue closes, a licence falls through or the numbers stop working, and a promoter needs the event closed cleanly rather than quietly left to run out. Cancelling marks the event, starts refunds for every order and stops the reminder emails. What follows covers the announcement and the checks the dashboard leaves to you. Mark the event cancelled, start refunds for every order and tell ticket holders yourself before the refund emails reach them. For: Ending an event that has already sold tickets Takes: 7 minutes - [Open Event Details and select Cancel Event](#step-1) - [Read the warning and confirm](#step-2) - [Tell ticket holders in your own words](#step-3) - [Update the event page to say what happened](#step-4) ## Before you start - You are an owner or admin for the event. **Cancel Event** is unavailable after the event has ended and after its funds have been paid out. - The event will not happen at all. Postpone it instead when you expect to run it on a later date, because a postponement keeps the orders and lets you choose who can ask for a refund. - You have decided what to tell ticket holders. Ticket Fairy emails each of them as their refund is processed, and that email says the event is cancelled and nothing more. 1. ## Open Event Details and select Cancel Event Open the event and select **Event Details**. In the row of status actions above the form, select **Cancel Event**. **Note:** A greyed-out button means the event has ended or its funds have been paid out. The tooltip gives you the support address to contact. ![Ticket Fairy Cancel Event confirmation, warning that the action cannot be undone and that pending card payments are cancelled with it](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-status-actions--cancel-event.png) Event Details, Event Status, Cancel Event. 2. ## Read the warning and confirm Read the warning, then select **Confirm**. **Note:** Where you sell through your own connected Stripe account, a second line tells you that payments buyers started but never finished are cancelled as well. 3. ## Tell ticket holders in your own words Email your ticket holders that the event is cancelled and that their refund is on its way. **Note:** Ticket Fairy refunds the event within one to two days, and each buyer gets a cancellation email as their own refund goes through. Your message reaches them first, so send it the same day. 4. ## Update the event page to say what happened Open the event and update the description and artwork so anyone who reaches the page sees the cancellation and what you are doing about it. **Note:** A cancelled event still saves its description and artwork. Dates, ticket types and the rest of the form no longer save, so change those before you cancel or not at all. ## Or have it done for you Fai can open Event Details for you, read the event back, and draft the announcement to ticket holders. Cancelling is yours to confirm in the dashboard or with the CLI, which asks you to confirm before it sends anything. ### In your dashboard, with Fai Open Event Details for \, tell me how many orders it has, and draft an email telling ticket holders it is cancelled and their refund is on the way ### From your own assistant, over MCP Connect your assistant to [our MCP server](https://www.ticketfairy.com/mcp-server) and ask it: Keep `--read-only` in your MCP configuration. This task only reads data, so your assistant does not need tools that make changes. Pick the brand, find the event \ and show its status, dates and ticket sales ## From your terminal Install the CLI from [our CLI page](https://www.ticketfairy.com/cli), sign in with `ticketfairy auth login`, and choose the brand you are working on with `ticketfairy brand use `. `ticketfairy brand list` and `ticketfairy event list` show the IDs the other commands use. The cancel command asks you to confirm before it runs. Add the force flag only in a script, where nobody is there to answer. ### Cancel an event and confirm at the prompt ticketfairy event cancel \ ## Check the refunds have gone out 1. ### Open Orders and check the refunded amount Open the event and select **Orders** a day or two after cancelling, then check the refunded total against what the event sold. **Note:** Contact Ticket Fairy support with the event ID when an order is still unrefunded after two days. Fai can open the event so you can check the orders. What each order has been refunded is read on the Orders page today. ### In your dashboard, with Fai Open \ so I can check its refunds ### From your own assistant, over MCP Keep `--read-only` in your MCP configuration. This task only reads data, so your assistant does not need tools that make changes. Pick the brand, find the event \ and show it ### From your terminal Read the event back after the refunds have run. #### Show the event and its current status ticketfairy event get \ ## Cancel an event whose funds have been paid out 1. ### Send the details to Ticket Fairy support Send Ticket Fairy support the event name, the event ID and why the event is not going ahead. **Note:** The dashboard refuses the cancellation once the money has left, because the refunds have to come from somewhere. Support works out how with you. Fai can open the support request for you with the event ID already in it. ### In your dashboard, with Fai Open a support request to cancel \. Its funds have already been paid out. Include the event ID ### From your own assistant, over MCP Keep `--read-only` in your MCP configuration. This task only reads data, so your assistant does not need tools that make changes. Pick the brand, find \ and show whether its funds are remitted ### From your terminal This one goes through support rather than the CLI. #### Show the event before you contact support ticketfairy event get \ ## Reinstate a cancelled event 1. ### Ask Ticket Fairy support to reinstate the event Send Ticket Fairy support the event name and ID. Reinstatement is restricted because cancellation has already moved orders, refunds and resale. 2. ### Review resale invitations and confirm Support asks whether existing resale invitations should stop working, then reinstates the event. **Note:** Check the event page, ticket types, sale windows and refunds before you announce that the event is on again. Refunds already paid stay paid. ![Ticket Fairy confirmation for reinstating a cancelled event, with the choice to invalidate resale invitations](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-status-actions--reinstate-event.png) Event Details, Event Status, Reinstate Event. Ask Fai to open the support request. MCP can show whether the event is still cancelled. The CLI command works only for an authorised Ticket Fairy staff account. ### In your dashboard, with Fai Open a support request to reinstate \. Include its event ID and ask me whether existing resale invitations should remain valid ### From your own assistant, over MCP Keep `--read-only` in your MCP configuration. This task only reads data, so your assistant does not need tools that make changes. Pick the brand, find \ and show whether it is cancelled ### From your terminal This command is restricted to authorised Ticket Fairy staff. #### Reinstate and stop existing resale invitations ticketfairy event reinstate \ --invalidate-resale-invitations ## Questions you might have Does cancelling refund every order on its own?: Cancelling asks Ticket Fairy to refund the whole event, and the team processes those refunds within one to two days. You do not refund the orders one by one. Which orders does that refund miss?: A cash order paid over the counter cannot be refunded to a card, and the sweep also passes over an order whose payment never completed, one that already has a refund pending, and any refund the payment provider rejects. Check the refunded total against what the event sold, and take the rest to support. Are ticket holders emailed straight away?: No. Each buyer is emailed as their own refund is processed, so the emails arrive over the following day or two. Send your own announcement first. Can I undo a cancellation?: Not from the dashboard. Ticket Fairy support can reinstate the event, and refunds that have already been paid stay paid. What stops when an event is cancelled?: Scheduled event reminders and subscriber emails stop, resale stops, and multi-event passes can no longer be redeemed for it. Referral rewards earned on the event are released. Can I still edit a cancelled event?: You can change its description and artwork, which is how you explain the cancellation on the page. Dates, ticket types and the rest of the form no longer save. ## Related guides - [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/features) - [Postpone or reschedule an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/postpone-or-reschedule-an-event) - [Refund an order on your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/refund-an-order) - [Email the people who bought tickets to your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/email-your-buyers) - [Use Freefund to reduce no-shows at free and RSVP events](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/reduce-no-shows-at-free-rsvp-events) - [Run an A/B test for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-an-ab-test-for-your-event) - [Make your event invitation-only](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/make-an-event-invitation-only) - [Password-protect your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/password-protect-your-event) - [Sell tickets by personal invitation](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-tickets-by-personal-invitation) - [Unlock hidden tickets with an access code](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/unlock-hidden-tickets-with-an-access-code) - [Approve orders before buyers receive tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/approve-orders-before-buyers-receive-tickets) - [Schedule when your event goes live](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/schedule-when-your-event-goes-live) - [Take pre-registrations before your ticket on-sale](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/take-pre-registrations-before-your-on-sale) - [Create a reusable event template](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/create-a-reusable-event-template) - [Set up ticketing for a multi-day festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-a-multi-day-festival) - [Sell parking, camping and merchandise with your tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-add-ons-with-your-tickets) - [Group your tickets into categories](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/group-your-tickets-into-categories) - [Issue reusable event passes to crew and artists](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/issue-entry-passes-to-your-crew) - [Create an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/create-an-event) - [Set up ticket types](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/set-up-ticket-types) - [Sell timed-entry tickets for an attraction, exhibition or food event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-timed-entry-tickets) - [Duplicate an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/duplicate-an-event) - [Run a recurring event series](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-recurring-event-series) - [Sell VIP tables and bottle service through your promoters](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-vip-tables-and-bottle-service) - [Run ticketing for a nightclub](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-nightclub) - [Run ticketing for a club night](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-club-night) - [Hold back tickets for later](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/hold-back-ticket-stock) - [Every Ticket Fairy guide](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) ## Do this on your own event Create your account, build your event and follow the steps in your own dashboard. You do not need to book a sales call. [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) --- This page is on Ticket Fairy, a ticketing, marketing and operations platform for live events and the venues that host them: festivals, club nights, concerts, conferences and tours, and night clubs, beach clubs and concert venues. It grows revenue with fan rewards that turn an audience into a sales channel, and runs the money side with payments and payouts, Vault business banking, and working capital advanced against ticket sales. [How Ticket Fairy ticketing works](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing) ยท [Ticket Fairy for AI assistants](https://www.ticketfairy.com/llms.txt)