Good Soldier Schweik: if young performers do not start running clubs and festivals there will be nowhere for them to do gigs. degree courses need to emphasise this and teach young performers how to organise events

Young performers DO run events these days...they just happen not to be "folk clubs". I'm in Devon this week and have a choice of open mics or sessions in Seaton (2), Axminster, Bridport, Lyme Regis, Crewkerne or Honiton, all within 25 mins drive of where I'm staying, and all but one run by young people (under 35).

My young friend Elijah runs a whole group of open mics under a single "trade name", covering quite a swathe of Devon, Dorset and Somerset.

When I go home to Kent there are at least 4 open mics that I know of in the town where I live, all run by young people. There are also 2 venues which showcase young local musicians, a free May bank holiday local showcase called "Unfest" and an August bank holiday showcase running for 3 days called "Local and Live". Most of the organisers there are under 35.

There is a folk club in Seaton that runs every couple of weeks, and often clashes with one of the open mics, but the folk club ends at 1030 and the open mic goes on until midnight, so I can often get to both :-). I'm usually one of the youngest at the Seaton event, and it's definitely NOT run by young people. Nor are the more "folky" events which run in my home area around Kent and Sussex.

Apart from the Ditchling session (which Will Fly plays no small part in) which is lively, varied and always interesting, the few folk clubs that I get time to visit in my home area these days are mostly quite staid and, to be honest, youngsters would mostly find them a bit boring (I've taken young musicians along in the past and they've never returned).

Different times, different solutions! I imagine in 40 years people will be wondering why the few remaining open mics are populated by people in their 60s and 70s, whilst the youngsters are merrily linking their implants into VR gigs and festivals.