"I thought it was going to stay small after Mr H departed? Are there plans for it to grow again? Is this what the locals want?"

I would venture a guess that a greater proportion of those 6 - 700 events are participative - workshops, talks, lectures, dances etc - than at any other UK folk festival. So it depends what you mean by "small" - for me, it means making sure that the grass roots is well represented and catered for.

What the locals want is a festival that is solvent - because that's sustainable. Locals want the festival to keep bringing a substantial economic impact to the region, as it is well known in the area that festival week has a major impact on the viability of a number of local businesses. Should the festival be too small, or disappear altogether, that economic benefit would be lost. So a certain critical mass of activity - and visitor numbers - needs to be maintained.

We are working very much with the local business community, and we have certainly had no feedback so far that the festival is any bigger than the local community would want it to be.