--- title: "Change the date or call off an event | Ticket Fairy Guides" description: "Choose between postponing, canceling and refunding, tell ticket holders before they hear it anywhere else, and see what each choice means for their tickets and their money." canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/change-or-call-off-an-event" --- 1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/) 2. [Guides](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) 3. Change the date or call off an event Start to finish # Change the date or call off an event A headliner pulls out, a venue loses its license or the sales never came, and you usually have to decide fast. Postponing, canceling and refunding each leave ticket holders in a different position. You can change or lift a postponement yourself, while only Ticket Fairy support can reverse a cancellation, and refunds already paid stay paid. Takes: 7 minutes - [Choose the change that fits](#step-1) - [Open the page for the change you chose](#step-2) - [Follow the guide for the change you chose](#step-3) - [What each change emails](#step-4) - [Update everything that still points at the old plan](#step-5) ## Before you start - You are an owner or admin for the event. You can't postpone or cancel after the event has ended or after its funds have been paid out. - You know what the event has sold and what refunding all of it would cost you. - You have checked what your terms, artist agreement and venue contract commit you to. 1. ## Choose the change that fits Choose between a new date, calling the event off and refunding some of the orders. - **Postpone Event**: The event happens on a later date, orders stay, and you choose who may ask for a refund. It works with or without a confirmed new date. - **Cancel Event**: The event will not happen at all. Ticket Fairy support refunds the event within one to two days, apart from orders it cannot refund, and only support can reverse it. - **Refund some orders**: The event goes ahead with a change that affects only some buyers, such as a dropped support act or a moved stage. **Note:** Choose postponement whenever a later date is possible. A postponed event can still be canceled later, and a canceled one is hard to bring back. 2. ## Open the page for the change you chose Open **Event Details** to postpone or cancel, and **Orders** to refund one order at a time. **Note:** Postponing and canceling are whole-event actions with their own dialogs. There is no partial-refund dialog: you refund each order from the Orders page. ![The Postpone Event dialog with date visibility, new event dates, postponement banner date and refund choices](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-status-actions--postpone-event.png) *The postponement dialog, one of the three status actions.* 3. ## Follow the guide for the change you chose Follow [Postpone or reschedule an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/postpone-or-reschedule-an-event), [Cancel an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/cancel-an-event) or [Refund an order on your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/refund-an-order) to the end. ![The Cancel Event confirmation, warning that the action cannot be undone and that pending card payments are canceled with it](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-status-actions--cancel-event.png) *Event Details, Event Status, Cancel Event.* ## What each change emails When you postpone, Ticket Fairy emails every ticket holder as soon as you confirm. When you cancel, Ticket Fairy emails each buyer when their own refund goes through. When you refund an order, Ticket Fairy emails that buyer that their refund is on its way. Your own message is the one that explains what happened, so send it the same day and change the event description to match. **Note:** Until you change the page, buyers who never got your email can still buy. 4. ## Update everything that still points at the old plan Check the sale windows, the door times, the scheduled messages and any advertising that still points at the old plan. **Note:** Postponing clears the event's Ticket Sales Start, Doors Open Time and Last Entry Time, so set them again; ticket-level entry times and one-off scheduled emails keep the old date until you move them. ## Or have it done for you Fai, your AI teammate, can check sales, update your event or change a ticket when you ask. Fai can tell you the ticket sales, open the page where you make the change, and draft the message to ticket holders. Her figure covers ticket sales only, not add-ons or installment plans. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` For , tell me what its tickets have sold and whether its funds have been paid out yet. Say what your figure leaves out ``` ### From your own assistant, over MCP Connect your assistant to [our MCP server](https://www.ticketfairy.com/mcp-server) and ask it: The copied MCP configuration includes `--read-only`. Remove `--read-only` only when you want your assistant to make changes. Your assistant makes routine changes when you ask, and checks with you before a destructive action if your client supports that. If your client cannot ask, make the change in your dashboard. ``` Pick the brand, find the event and show its status, dates and sales. Then postpone it to and with the refund choice I give you, or cancel it, as I decide. Show me the change and ask me to approve it before you make it ``` ## 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. Read the event before you decide, then run the change you chose. The postpone and cancel commands change the live event, and each asks you to confirm before it runs. ### Show the event, its dates and its status ``` ticketfairy event get ``` ### Postpone the event with the new dates and refund choice in a file you have reviewed (changes the live event) ``` ticketfairy event postpone --from-file postponement.yaml ``` ### Cancel the event and confirm at the prompt (changes the live event) ``` ticketfairy event cancel ``` ## Let buyers refund themselves instead 1. ### Turn on self-service refunds Let ticket holders refund their own orders when you expect many requests and don't want your team handling each one. **Note:** This suits a postponement more than a cancellation, because a cancellation refunds everybody anyway. ![The Allow customers to initiate refunds switch on the event's ticket settings](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-self-refunds--allow-customer-refunds.png) *Event, Tickets, Settings.* Fai can open the event so you can switch self-service refunds on, and the Orders page shows how many buyers used them. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` Open so I can let buyers refund themselves ``` ### 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 its settings ``` ### From your terminal Read the event to see the current refund setting. #### Show the event and its settings ``` ticketfairy event get ``` ## Offer the ticket to another buyer 1. ### Open resale for the people who cannot come Let buyers who cannot make the new date pass their ticket on at face value instead of refunding it. **Note:** With resale, you keep the ticket revenue and fill the room; a refund does neither. It suits a postponement to a date some buyers cannot make. ![The Anti-Scalping/Fraud Settings dialog, with names required, name checks, ID required, ticket resale and add-on resale switches and a Save button](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-settings--anti-scalping.png) *Tickets, Settings, Anti-Scalping/Fraud Settings.* Fai can open the event so you can turn resale on, and the dashboard shows the resale figures. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` Open so I can let buyers pass their tickets on ``` ### 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 its settings ``` ### From your terminal Read the event to check resale is open. #### Show the event and its settings ``` ticketfairy event get ``` ## Questions you might have **Which choice can I undo?** Postponement. You can change the date, change who may refund, or remove the postponed status yourself. Only Ticket Fairy support can reverse a cancellation. **Can I decide later, once I have a new date?** Yes. Postpone without publishing a date, then reveal it when the venue and the artists are confirmed. Ticket holders hear that plans changed without waiting. **What if the money has already been paid out?** You can't postpone or cancel once the funds have been paid out. Contact Ticket Fairy support with the event ID and what you need to do. **Do I have to refund everybody when I postpone?** No. You choose whether every ticket holder, only those who bought before the postponement, or nobody can ask for a refund. ## Still have a question? Book a demo and we will answer it on a call, on your kind of event. Or create your account and see it for yourself. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No monthly fee. No credit card required. ## Related guides - [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/orders-refunds-and-resale) - [Postpone or reschedule an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/postpone-or-reschedule-an-event) - [Cancel an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/cancel-an-event) - [Refund an order on your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/refund-an-order) - [Email your ticket buyers about your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/email-your-buyers) - [Let buyers resell their tickets at face value](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-buyers-resell-their-tickets-at-face-value) - [Open your ticket on-sale](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/open-your-ticket-on-sale) - [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) ## Sell tickets with Ticket Fairy Start free with unlimited events and no monthly fee, and choose a paid plan when you need more. - Set up your event in minutes - Free events are free - Fai, your AI teammate, is built in [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No monthly fee. No credit card required. ## See it on a call Book a demo and we will show you how Ticket Fairy handles your kind of event. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/orders-refunds-and-resale) ### Tips for selling more tickets Practical advice from working event organizers, and every new guide as it is published. We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime. --- 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)