What's so important about this is that Pete was responsible for much of the folk music
revival and the interest in participation in it. He was a one-man PR firm for it. These national events are an outgrowth of Pete's philosophy that music is not an exclusive club
and there is the "law of the commons" that says folk music belongs to all of us. (This "law" is not a popular concept among Libertarians whose philosophy often runs counter to the idea of shared "commons".)

Pete as a catalyst for encouraging creativity and new voices can't be underestimated.
If his birthday celebration can be used to bring musical communities together, this is
a wonderful thing.