I'm not sure it's right to distinguish between small festivals run for the love if and those organised on a commercial basis. Most of the large "commercial" festivals are actually run on a not-for-profit basis, and organised by enthusiasts who also do it for the love of it.

The point is that a festival is the magnet which attracts musicians to come and play in the sessions. If they only come to play, without putting something back in the festival kitty, they're doing that on the back of the festival. In most cases the profit from a festival doesn't go to individuals, it's all ploughed back into the next year's festival. Everyone who takes advantage of the sessions which take place on the fringe of the festival, and which wouldn't be happening without it, and who doesn't make a financial contribution to the festival is putting its future in jeopardy. Some would call that freeloading.

I have some sympathy with festivals who want to put on performers in pubs. They may be short of other venues, or it may be a way of getting the festival out into the local community rather than just being something going on in a field on the edge of town. Personally I wouldn't go to a festival which didn't give me the opportunity to play, so if I found one like that I'd give them feedback and probably wouldn't go again. But some festivals are aimed more at listeners and they want to put on as many concerts as possible.

Sometimes the music is organised by the pub landlord who hopes to bring in the festival crowd, rather than the festival itself.

There are still hundreds of festivals all over the country, big and small, cheap or expensive, and they all provide something different. It should be possible to find one with the right balance to suit everyone.