18/08/2026
So, it’s probably no surprise by now that I (Alexa) was the organiser behind The Happy Market Cairns grand opening over the weekend. ❤️
I actually tried to share this in a few local community groups because I felt it was important that our side was heard too. Unfortunately, some of those posts were removed because I chose to keep the comments turned off. Funny how page admins will leave up posts with abuse and misinformation, but not the ones addressing what’s been said.
And I want to explain why I made that choice.
We know our own page is absolutely overflowing with support. We have received hundreds of beautiful comments, messages, reviews and posts from attendees and stallholders who genuinely loved the event. We are incredibly grateful for that.
But we have also seen some of the conversations happening on local community pages, and while constructive criticism is completely fair, some of the comments have gone far beyond feedback and have genuinely been upsetting.
I don’t believe I should have to open myself up to another pile-on simply to be allowed to share my perspective.
It’s also no surprise that the attendance was absolutely insane. We had far more people arrive than we ever anticipated, with approximately 10,000 people coming through across the event.
And yes — we have already addressed the parking and traffic issues publicly. We heard that feedback loud and clear, and we are actively working on larger venues and better traffic and parking management for future events.
But I also want to say something that I think is getting lost amongst all the noise:
For a brand-new event having its very first grand opening, we did extremely well.
The event itself was fabulous. ❤️
The atmosphere was incredible, the community showed up in numbers we could never have imagined, and many of our stallholders sold out or had incredibly successful trading days.
Ask the businesses who were actually there what their experience was — their feedback matters too.
There were performances, kids’ activities, DIY zones, entertainment, food, shopping, local businesses and thousands of people coming together in one place. We had everything we advertised.
We completely understand that some attendees found it difficult to enjoy the event because of the crowds, queues or parking. That is valid feedback, and those are things we can improve.
But those issues do not automatically make the entire event a “bad event.” We understand out of 10,000, there will be people that felt that of course, like any event.
It was well organised, incredibly well promoted — clearly, otherwise approximately 10,000 people wouldn’t have shown up — and it demonstrated that Cairns genuinely wants events like this.
What we learned is that The Happy Market has already outgrown its original venue, and we are working hard to find a larger space that can comfortably accommodate the demand.
That will allow us to improve traffic management, parking, crowd movement, accessibility and the overall attendee experience.
And we will.
But what we’re not going to do is normalise abusing someone online because they had the courage to try something new.
There is a very clear difference between constructive criticism and personal attacks.
Feedback such as “parking needs improvement,” “we need wider walkways,” “there should be more food vendors,” or “the venue was too crowded” is constructive.
We can take that information, learn from it and make changes.
Attacking my character, spreading false rumours, making assumptions about what happened behind the scenes or piling onto someone personally is not constructive criticism.
It is bullying.
And that goes against everything I believe a community should stand for.
Cairns constantly asks for more things to do, more family-friendly events and more opportunities to support local businesses.
When somebody takes the risk of creating something new, we should absolutely hold them accountable for improving where necessary — but we should also give them the opportunity to learn, grow and do better.
This was our first Happy Market event.
We aren’t claiming everything was perfect.
We have acknowledged what needs improvement, and we’re already doing the work.
But I refuse to allow the things we need to improve to erase everything that went right.
I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved.
I’m proud of the stallholders who worked unbelievably hard.
I’m proud of the businesses that sold out.
I’m proud of our team.
I’m proud that thousands of people chose to spend their Saturday supporting local businesses.
And I’m incredibly grateful for every person who has messaged us, left a review, defended a new local event or simply said:
“We’ll be back.” ❤️
I also want to address the screenshots being circulated about a previous event cancellation years ago.
Those screenshots have been brought up repeatedly as though they somehow prove that what happened over the weekend is part of a pattern, so I want to give them the context they deserve rather than pretend they don’t exist.
Yes, I previously cancelled an event and then travelled overseas to attend a wedding.
And yes — should I have organised the refunds sooner? Absolutely.
That is something I can look back on now and acknowledge I could have handled better.
The event had been cancelled, I had overseas travel already happening, and the refund process should have been dealt with more promptly before I left. I understand why people involved at the time were frustrated by that.
We learn.
Being an experienced event organiser doesn’t mean you have never made a mistake. Experience comes from doing things, sometimes getting things wrong, taking responsibility for those decisions and making sure you handle them better the next time.
What I don’t think is fair is taking screenshots from that situation, removing the wider context and using them now to suggest that it somehow proves this event was unsuccessful or that nothing has changed since then.
If anything, I think being able to say, “Yes, I should have handled that differently,” is important.
I did learn from it.
And I will continue learning.
The previous event was cancelled. It did not go ahead, and therefore it is not evidence of how I run a live event.
The Happy Market did go ahead.
Approximately 10,000 people attended. Businesses sold out. Thousands of people supported local, and we successfully delivered an event that attracted a level of demand far beyond what we anticipated.
Did we discover things we need to improve? Absolutely.
Just as I can look back at that previous situation and say refunds should have been handled sooner, I can look at this weekend and say we need a bigger venue and stronger traffic and parking management.
That’s what growth looks like.
You acknowledge it. You fix it. You do better next time.
I am not going to continually relitigate an old situation every time somebody wants to criticise something I organise, but since those screenshots are being circulated, I am also not going to pretend the situation didn’t happen.
I made a mistake in how quickly those refunds were handled.
I learned from it.
And what happened this weekend should be judged on what actually happened this weekend.
To those who have provided genuine feedback, thank you. We are listening.
To those who have supported us, defended a new local event and encouraged us to keep going — thank you more than you know.
But I will not accept personal abuse, false rumours or attacks on my character under the banner of “feedback.”
Bullying is never okay — online or otherwise.
For the sake of my own wellbeing, I am choosing not to spend another evening responding to rude or personal comments.
You can acknowledge where something needs improvement and still celebrate what was achieved.
Both things can be true.
We learned.
We listened.
We’re improving.
And after seeing just how much demand there is for what we’re creating, one thing is certain:
The Happy Market will be back — bigger and better. ❤️
