It is with great regret and sadness that we have to announce that we will no longer be putting on our arts and crafts fairs.  This is due to our having a claim made against us by one of our vendors after our last fair for a trip-and-fall accident that occurred after our fair ended in the parking lot adjacent to our fairgrounds area.  According to several individuals who witnessed the accident, our event had absolutely nothing to do with the fall, but unfortunately, that didn't prevent the party involved from moving ahead with filing a claim.

 

Though we have insurance we are required to carry as the event coordinator, the city who owns the parking lot where the accident occurred has a clause in their permit agreement with us that they are not responsible for any liability for any incident connected to our event, before, during or after the hours covered by our permit, even if the incident is caused directly by the city's negligent actions.  We are also required not only to indemnify the city from any and all damages whether or not we caused them, but also to pay for their attorney's fees to defend against any suit filed against them - something I was told our insurance might not cover.  Fortunately, the city has not approached us yet about any need to defend them, but that is still a sword hanging over our heads in addition to the actual insurance claim that was filed.

 

We started putting on these fairs only because the city said they had no interest in doing it themselves, and as artists we felt it would be great for the city we've lived in for the last 37 years to have its own arts and crafts fair.  This incident, however, brought into sharp focus that we have no ability to control whether or not any party will file a claim or pursue a lawsuit against us, and though this would be the most extreme outcome, we could potentially lose our house, our savings, and everything else we've spent a lifetime building just because we chose to put on these events which we rarely manage to even break even on.  Further - now that a claim has been filed with our insurance company, the rates for securing insurance have gone up considerably meaning we would have to raise the vendor fees by a large amount to cover those added costs which we know would hurt all of our vendors. 

 

We are extremely grateful to all of our regular vendors and guests who attend our events and made it a pleasure to do the work to make this happen each time, but we can't risk everything we own just to keep the fair going.  Our plan moving forward will be participate in other arts and crafts fairs in the area as vendors, so we hope to still see many of you at those events.

 

Thank you again for all of the support you have shown over the years, and we wish nothing but the best to everyone.

 

Richard and Allyson Finkel

Rancho Arts & Crafts Fair