Web Summit will handle storm refunds case by case, Cosgrave says

Web Summit will deal with refund or compensation requests from people who missed Wednesday one at a time, its founder and chief executive Paddy Cosgrave said on Thursday.Web Summit Lisbon 2026, Stage 02, Day Three livestream: Paddy Cosgrave press conference (2:36 to 2:50). He spoke at a press conference in Lisbon on 12 November, as the event reopened for its final day. Asked by Observador whether startups, companies and attendees would get refunds, he said that if any requests came in, “the team will just deal with them directly on a case-by-case basis”. Web Summit has published no refund terms. Its cancellation notice said only that it “will communicate directly with those impacted”.Web Summit: Important event update (10 November 2026).

Web Summit called off Wednesday 11 November after Portugal’s government formally advised against opening because of Storm Charles, as we reported on 10 November.The S-Curve, Web Summit calls off Wednesday as Storm Charles nears Lisbon, 10 November 2026.

No figure for the losses

SIC asked for an estimate of what the shutdown cost. Cosgrave gave none: it was still Thursday, he said, and “the accountants will figure that out”. Asked whether insurance covers refunds or the company’s losses, he said he would learn about that “in the days ahead”, after spending the previous 24 hours working with police to make the site safe.

SIC also asked whether Web Summit would seek compensation from Lisbon’s city council or the government. Cosgrave did not say. He replied that the government had made the right decision and that “I have no quibble, no disagreement with the government and would support what they did”. Earlier, asked by RTP whose decision the cancellation was, he said: “I think they made absolutely the right decision.” Lisbon’s city council told DN on Wednesday that it was premature to discuss compensating the organiser, and said the suspension was set by the authorities on government guidance.DN: Câmara de Lisboa considera prematuro discutir compensações financeiras à Web Summit.

Down and back up

Cosgrave said Web Summit uses more than 30,000 square metres of temporary structures, many of which had to come down. Crews worked from 6 p.m. on Tuesday, and the last truck left at around 4 a.m. Everything was rebuilt from 6 p.m. on Wednesday, he said, and it only became clear early on Thursday, once engineers had signed off, that the full site could open.

Programming started across 24 stages at 9 a.m., Cosgrave said, with Wednesday’s speakers fitted in. Web Summit’s own schedule notice puts the end of stage talks at 5.30pm.Web Summit: Arrive early tomorrow, stage talks start at 9am. It says more than 100 speakers from Wednesday were moved to Thursday, along with 65 meetups.

Cosgrave argued the event carried on across the city while the venue was shut. He said activity on Web Summit’s mobile app is up year on year, and that leads generated by exhibitors are up 11% year on year. Web Summit has not published the data behind either figure. Hotels and some restaurants did very well on Wednesday, he said, and he left the wider economic effect to economists.