Printed programme shows that all marquee spots have been filled.

Sorry that you didn't get a reply, Girl Friday, but speaking as the organiser of a festival in the next county, you must realise that festival organisers are inundated with requests for bookings at folk festivals every day, so it is not surprising that some get through without a response.

I try to send a cut'n'paste, standard acknowledgement to all I receive saying something like " wait & see... bring your name to the committee... will only reply if we have a positive response" but then I've had complaints that this is 'too impersonal', so I've found that I can't win.

The sad facts are that I have a pretty good idea of who I want to book, who will draw a crowd and who fits in with the ethos of our festival before I start out each year and the chances of getting a booking by cold calling or email are about 1%.