Castletown Town Commissioners have said they are ‘disappointed’ after a popular Manx food shack claimed the local authority had declined proposals for it to return to the town’s Market Square this year.

Filbey’s, which operates pop-up food events at various locations across the island, confirmed earlier this week that it would not be returning to one of its regular southern locations in 2026, prompting disappointment from some local fans.

In a social media post, the business said it had been asked frequently when it would next appear in Castletown and wanted to update customers.

The post stated: ‘We’ve been asked a lot about when we will next be popping up in Castletown and we wanted to share the latest update on this… unfortunately the Castletown Commissioners have declined our proposal to continue our monthly pop ups in the square for this year.

‘We are very disappointed as we absolutely loved our time there so much last year… we wish there was more we could do but they have made their decision.

‘We are working on a few other ideas for places to pop up to bring you maximum Filbeys throughout the rest of the year so watch this space!! Thank you all so much for your continued support and love.’

However, Castletown Town Commissioners later responded on social media, suggesting the situation was not as straightforward as the post implied.

On Friday, the local authority issued a formal statement clarifying its position and outlining the correspondence between the two parties.

The statement explained that the commissioners’ leisure committee had been in discussions with Filbey’s for some time regarding its request to operate its mobile catering unit in Castletown Market Square during the summer of 2026.

According to the commissioners, Filbey’s was contacted on February 17 and informed that the authority would be happy for the business to operate in the square on a number of proposed dates.

The suggested Saturdays were April 25, May 30, June 27, July 18, August 22 and September 19.

However, the commissioners say they received a response from Filbey’s on March 11 indicating that the dates were not suitable.

In the reply, Filbey’s wrote: ‘Apologies for the delay in coming back to you – we’ve all had a bit of a holiday break.

‘I appreciate you letting me know about this, unfortunately none of the dates that the Balley Cashtal Market are doing are suitable for us as we already have bookings in, which is a shame.

‘I will be releasing something on social media in due course to explain that we will not be popping up in Castletown this year as we are constantly being asked when we are next there by a lot of our regulars that came down to see us there last year.’

The commissioners said they were ‘disappointed’ that the business had decided not to operate in Castletown this year and also expressed concern about how the situation had been portrayed online.

In their statement they said: ‘It was Filbey’s who determined that they would not come to Castletown during 2026. This was not a decision of the Castletown Town Commissioners, who were happy for Filbey’s to operate from the Castletown Market Square.

‘It is unfortunate that Filbey’s indicate on their Facebook page that the blame lies solely with the Commissioners, which is not factual – it was a decision made solely by Filbey’s.’