Apologies for misinterpreting your post there Q. I thought you were using the term "a million" as a colorful exaggeration to make a point, as in use of the word "gazillions" or something.

I stand corrected on the numbers thing. But I still don't think that in a city of a million people that the left leaning proclivities of a couple thousand folkies is going to hurt anybody, including the festival that can't get an audience.

Arts events and organizations aren't meant to last forever, or remain popular forever. There is, and should be, a natural life cycle to them, as there is with everything else. It isn't all that uncommon for an arts group to fade away with the energies of its founder after a decade or so, or after a few years if it is a successful arts event. You don't want them to become so institutionalized that they suck up all the limited funds available to small arts ventures, especially new ones. You don't want festivals and events to become that entrenched, because that event then gets the lion share of the resources and audience, while the rest of the arts community and it's audiences won't be served. Not a good thing, in my opinion.

So who cares if it is the politics of politicians or the politics of the organization who brings on the timely death? The immediate players, sure. But I have never, in my 30 years in the arts, heard of a folk festival going out of business because the musicians, organizers, and fans were too politically liberal for their own good. That just sounds silly.