Thanks for starting this thread, Becky. I really didn't know if 'festival' meant the same thing in the UK and the USA. From what I've read here so far, they are more alike than different.

When I was younger, I went to festivals nearly every weekend during the 'season,' but I rarely attend them anymore. Maybe things are different now. One thing I am thinking is that in the UK, singing is more valued than in the USA as a 'participant sport' in the campbrounds and parking lots. At least that is my experience with festivals in the southeast USA. Most of my festival going experience has been Bluegrass and Old Time music festivals, so that may account for a big part of that. But I think that is true even at folk and 'roots' festivals. In the campgrounds or 'fringe', if you want to be a participant and not exclusively a spectator, you better be carrying something with a neck and strings.

Janie