As you prepare to put out your best spread and dazzle the tastebuds of your attendees, holding a food festival also requires taking a reasonable amount of care in both preventing and accounting for the possibility of unfortunate incidents. In running a successful food event, all your hard work can quickly come undone from one mishap, and financial consequences of such mishaps can often be significant. That’s why having appropriate insurance cover for your event is an important part of ensuring your event runs smoothly, as well as preventing costly financial consequences from a mishap.

Although you might take every possible precaution in helping prevent mishaps at your food event, sometimes all it takes is one minor oversight to quickly turn your event into a disaster. For example, someone might suffer an injury and hold the event holders liable; an out-of-control fire from one stand might end up causing damage to surrounding areas; or an external event might cause significant disruption to the execution of your event. The possibility of something going wrong at a food event is just as high as any other type of event but ending up with extra costs because of something going wrong can be even more inconvenient.

As the event organiser, not only are you likely to need insurance for your own organisation, but your stallholders may also need to have their own insurance to protect them if they’re held liable for certain events. Furthermore, the venue you hold your event at is also likely to require that you provide proof of your insurance prior to allowing you to hire the venue. There are several types of cover you might wish to consider for your event, and the insurance policies you take out will depend on the type of event you hold. Generally, here are some of the covers available for your food event…

Public Liability Insurance is undoubtedly one of the most basic, yet most important types of cover you’ll need to consider for your food festival. It is designed to cover your organisation if a member of the public suffers an injury or has their property damaged because of your event’s activities. As unlikely as this might seem, incidents like these do occur, and can often bring with them substantial unexpected costs, such as legal fees and compensation. Public Liability can step in in these cases and provide cover for some of these costs. In some cases, the venue for your event may even require that you hold (and provide proof of) Public Liability Insurance for your event before allowing you to hire their venue.

Event cancellation is another type of insurance cover available for food & wine events. This allows you to be covered for some of the financial losses you might incur if your event is cancelled because of external events. For example, if sudden extreme weather means you end up having to cancel your event, or if a key figure due to attend the event didn’t attend impacting the success of your event, some of the financial losses you experience as a result can be covered under Event Cancellation Insurance. Event Cancellation Insurance is a flexible type of policy, and the cover you take out (or the cover your event is eligible to take out) will depend on the type and nature of your event.

As with any event, while holding insurance can help alleviate the financial losses you incur from certain incidents, it’s also important to take all due care in preventing such events in the first place. Having well documented emergency protocols; contingency plans for wet weather; preventing trip hazards, as well as having the insurance details of all involved parties (including stallholders) are just some of the boxes you’ll need to tick. You may even need to demonstrate having taken such precautions before an insurer will provide coverage for your event.

Aon’s team of experienced brokers have detailed knowledge of the events industry, and understand the risks faced. With over 50 years’ combined team experienced, Aon’s events insurance team are willing to take the time with you to understand your organisation and event and help ensure you receive the most appropriately fitting cover for your event.