I agree,.
however when pressed ,nobody on this forum was able to define it exactly,.
there were a number of grey areas,some people thought footballsongs were ,some didnt, etc.
However I do not accept that only unaccompanied songs should be sung,although I am quite happy to [and enjoy it] perform unaccompanied if that is what the organiser wants,neither do I think blues should be excluded.
Shimrod the point is,that within the terms folk club and folk festival,there are differences, Cropredy caters for a different audience than Whitby.
Might I also suggest that there was some benefit to folk clubs from folk comedians,They brought more bums on seats,some of those bums,learned to appreciate,serious folk music,in the same way Fairport brought young people in through electric folk,who later went on and developed as traditional style musicians.
The Spinners also brought a Lot of different people in.
I do not find the IFMC definition authoritative or convincing,nor do I believe anything goes.
The market generally sorts itself out[and the guest list gives a pretty good indication of what to expect ]for example you wouldnt see Bob Lewis or Dick Miles OR RonTaylor ,booked at Dartford folk club.,neither would you have seen WizzJones at Nottingham Traditional music club.
so why waste time on definitions,we can decide from looking at a guest list.
Jim Carroll ,I do find your information on WalterPardon interesting.