I think Jack's line about singarounds being unwelcoming to strangers of any age is significant (although whether or not it applies to Whitby I don't know). Anon, you may feel that you got passed over because you were a young person sitting on the edge of a group of middle-aged folkies who all knew each other, but I really doubt that your age will have been a factor. Picture a middle-aged version of yourself sitting on the edge of that same group, also not knowing any of them - would the organiser's greydar have picked up that personand welcomed them in as a fellow old codger? I think it's far more likely that you happened on a group of friends who like to sing together and don't much like newcomers. Which is horrible - I hate it when that happens to me - but it's not about youth and age; it's just about some folkies being miserable and standoffish.