DISGRUNTLED traders at Chatsworth Christmas Markets have spoken out against the ‘disgusting treatment’ they received when this year’s event was prematurely closed.
On Sunday, November 25, event organisers were forced to axe the annual markets owing to the ‘extremely heavy rainfall’ and flooding concerns.
A notice was posted on the Chatsworth website that morning and news of the cancellation was passed to many media outlets in the region.
Ted Cadogan, chief operating officer, said: “Due to the short time frame we still received a large number of visitors who were unaware of the cancellation and the markets were subsequently re-opened.”
As the car parking areas reached capacity at a very early stage, though, a decision was taken not to re-advertise the opening of the markets.
Owing to this, many traders were upset with the low turnout for the event.
One such trader, who did not wish to be named amid fears of not being invited back next year, said: “Everybody was told it was closed but nobody came round to the stall holders.
“It cost £815 to attend both weekends, which is a huge amount of money for me, and as a stall holder I am so disgusted with how we have been treated. I barely even covered my costs.”
Another disgruntled trader, who did not wish to be named for the same reason, said: “The worst part was that it was customers who were telling us the markets were closed. If it had been closed, we should have been told and we could have gone home instead of standing in the rain.”
Ted Cadogan has insisted that all stall holders were informed of the closure.
He added: “We sincerely apologise for any confusion and disappointment that this may have caused, and will be investigating ways in which to improve the event for the future.”
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