I attend a number of folk clubs, some smoking, some non-smoking and I prefer the atmosphere of the non-smoking clubs by a country mile.

I go to the non-smoking clubs on a regular basis, but I visit the smoking clubs only when I really want to see a specific performer, so they lose my custom a lot of the time.

Smoking is now banned in theatres, cinemas and concert venues for the benefit of everyones health, so why not folk clubs? Breathing in other's stale smoke does put some people off attending some clubs as regularly as they'd like to, so is it too much to ask for smokers to nip outside, or go to the public bar to light up when they feel the need? That way everyone's happy. The smokers get their fix (after all, no one is asking them to stop, just to take their smoke away from the majority who don't want it) and the non-smokers enjoy the evening without being engulfed in a tobacco smoke cloud, and we can ALL enjoy the music.