Wow, they just keep digging themselves deeper. Threaten to call the IRS on a street performer, and then jump on him for talking about it. Someone from Folklife was on this thread earlier. Are you still here? Is it really the policy of Folklife to report non-compliers to the IRS? Did someone really call a person to say they shouldn't be talking about it? What's the other side of the story?

My own opinion is that an organization that rents a public space for an event should be able to determine what goes on in that space, even if they invite the public. Obviously, the courts disagree, so that's that. I also think that any rule that is pushed beyond the point of practical application is a fetter and not a help. Reggie being told to not play in a location that wasn't causing a problem falls into that category.

Boogieman, I can't agree with you that "American roots music made this event" and that there is something wrong with it being an ethno-music event. I've been playing there for 27 years and have never played American roots music and have no desire to do so. Ethnic music that exists in the Pacific Northwest should and does get included. I do think they should stop having a yearly focus on one type of music, since that means they are specifically NOT focusing on others. But folk music is folk music, no matter where it comes from. It makes the festival interesting, which a bluegrass and western swing festival would emphatically not be. Rap, rock, jazz, and most singer-songwriters, however, don't have much connection to any sort of "folklife" and apparently take stage slots that are denied to folks who actually do play traditional folk music of some kind. I would also like it if all the crafts and food had some connection to folk arts. What's wrong with having a traditional arts festival?

But the worst part, by far, is the hundreds of drummers having an all-day, everyday, non-stop bash fest in the middle of the festival.