Our regular monster festival runs 3 stages, approx 10:00 AM to midnight, usually 30 minutes per act, for three days plus half a day on the closing Sunday. Competitions and workshops are on the fourth stage (the only indoor one). There are also (at least) three "unofficial stages" in the campground, usually with "signup lists" where anyone (almost) who wants can schedule their act.

A very few "name" performers perform only on Stage 1, and these few usually do two to four appearances there. Stage 1 is a typical county fairground grandstand that seats around 1500(?) with standing room for perhaps another 600. Most performers are expected to appear once on each of the three stages, and a workshop may be one of a performer's appearances. Frequently members of a couple of groups will "reorganize" into impromptu groups for workshops. A few present organized "off-site" workshops at the nearby town park (sometimes with separate fees to attend).

With that much going on, it's irrelevant whether some do a fresh act at each appearance or if the audience who couldn't get in at one performance expects the same act at the one they attend. The performers decide what they want to do and most (of the regulars at least) are pretty much aware of what they'll get from a particular act.

Different performers attract different audiences. If they make their audiences happy, they come back (sometimes) and if they don't they're less likely to be booked again.

A smaller festival, or one with more limited facilities, may need to make more decisions about what those who attend will expect, and may need to set more specific rules for what performers should do. The more rules are made, the more difficult it gets to find acts who will agree with them, but without a "policy" that meets the expectations of the audience the festival wants to attract, the success of the whole festival may be less than healthy. That's one of the reasons I've found "who's going" to be as useful as looking at "who's performing" when I decide whether a festival is worth attending.

I have determined that just because I attend, doesn't mean they'll change the rules just for me. The festival organizers may be content with attracting those with tastes and tolerances that differ from mine (generic classification idiots, subclass with time and money).

John