dougboywonder: Lights in the Ham were fine - you could see the artists perfectly, and there was a welcome absence of "rock show gimics". As for the sound - I did (and do) wonder if the sound problems were at least in part down to tiredness . . expecting someone to mix three concerts a day is, IMO, somewhat excessive . .

And when vectis says "The organisers would charge you for walking down the streen" I think he/she is talking out of the wrong orrifice, frankly. You can have a great week at Sidmouth without paying any money to the Festival, if you choose (and many folks do). The admission charge for the Arena show ground is arguable, but the £5 for the week idea in place this year is hardly excessive. But, for heaven's sake, the festival must cost a fortune to mount, and the organisers need every penny they can raise.

Some people (fortunately very few, in Folk circles) don't recognise extreme good fortune when they're smack in the middle of it! (We encountered one stupid woman who seemed to think the fact that the Kurdish dancers had failed to turn up was the organiser's deliberate attempt to spite her, and whinging at the £5 charge for the working programme. Even apart from the fact you get the WP free if you buy a Weekend or Week season ticket, £5 is certainly not unreasonable for the information it contains . . )

Oh, and the Milners, Johnson Girls and the member of the Solidarity Choir we saw (at the "Convict Poet" performance) were all superb . . there was simply too much excellent stuff to list in a single post!

George