Storm Disrupts Essex Fun Fest, Vendors React

For local business owner Amanda Clark, the second day of the Essex Fun Fest was going well.

Suddenly, the co-owner of Cottam Candy saw the weather take a sudden turn for the worse.

“The wind picked up out of nowhere – just a wall of wind,” Clark said. “The rain came down really hard, sideways. We watched tents just flipped.”

Winds exceeding 110 kilometres per hour swept through the Essex Fun Fest on Friday, causing a drastic weather shift that led to the evacuation of 1,600 visitors into the nearby Essex Arena.

Essex Fun Fest co-chair Richard Tapping described the scene as unpredictable.

“It was hard to determine what was really going on because most people were sheltered in the arena,” Tapping said.

He mentioned that once the storm passed, they saw just how much damage had been done.

“I don’t have any estimate on damage. I just know that we’re talking in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Tapping said.

This price estimate considers factors like equipment damage, lost live entertainment, and loss of revenue.

The damage included vendors booths, event equipment, and loss of entertainment costs. (Courtesy of Essex Fun Fest)

Clark said dealing with what happened afterward is tough.

“It’s unsettling,” Clark said. “Your adrenaline is pumping, and probably in the days after, you’re going to have a little bit of a crash where you really think about ‘you’re grateful, you’re okay, your fellow vendors [are okay].'”

“I think there are businesses, especially the handmade vendors, that probably lost everything they brought with them.. there are quite a few vendors that lost their whole business and have to kind of start from scratch, which is very unfortunate.”

Community rallied together

Even with all the destruction caused by the storm, Tapping noted that locals rushed in to help rebuild after the event.

“Within twenty minutes, we had people assisting us picking up garbage, putting up fencing, putting up signs again,” Tapping said. “Our volunteers are tired; our committee members are sore and tired.. but we did it.”

He shared that community members worked until 4 a. m. Saturday morning to clean up and restore order after what had happened.

Canadian Tire Essex offered to double their corporate sponsorship while local restaurant OG Pizza provided meals for those working late into the night.

Clark explained that as soon as news about the damages spread throughout town; support came pouring in without delay.

The winds of Friday’s storm reached over 110 kilometres per hour. (Submitted by Amanda Clark)

“Our business received hundreds and hundreds of comments; messages; texts from friends and family just checking in to see if we needed anything; making sure that we were okay,” she said.

By Saturday morning; festival grounds looked familiar again as gates reopened for attendees.

Tapping expressed how seeing things come together so quickly shows what community spirit looks like.

“It’s emotional for the team to see exactly how the community came together to rebuild,” he said.

“It’s not for festival members – we do it for our people of Essex.”

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