I'm not a die hard folkie, neither am I a Sidmouth Regular (although I believe I still owe £15 in fines to the Middle Bar, for one song), so it would have been an unusual occurence for me to go anyway. I've always found it was priced a little higher than I'm prepared to go. Having said that, if someone offered me a ticket, or I got booked as a gig or a stewards place, I'd go. It is one of the few festivals that makes it to mainstream media, it is one of the few that actively invites and encourages traditions from all over the world, often from areas we consider as cultural deserts, and it's one of the few that would be missed across the world if it folded for ever.

Eliza is right, Steve doesn't deserve to be labelled the bad guy in this, he has his moments, but this is not one of them.

LTS