I don't see any conflict of interests here Susan. Why would posting details of Folk Venues in your town prevent anyone from posting details of a festival? And if anyone who is remotely au fait with the folk scene wants to find out about festivals in a particular area all they have to do is access the festival pages of Dirty Linen (online). But if I want to go to Tombstone AZ for the weekend, where am I supposed to look for details of live music ? Search on Google for "Tombstone, Kolk Music"? There is every chance that venues might not even have any web presence. Also, while it is true that (long-term) residents of a city will know where the venues are, new arrivals and visitors may not, and it exactly for such that the information would be provided.

I wondered about a Permathread too Spaw, but I honestly don't see how it would work, incorporated into a single thread unless it were arranged alphabetically by town, and that seems to me to be a hell of a lot of extra work for Bert.

My suggestion would mean absolutely NO additional work, apart from what is involved in setting up a new category and letting people know that Mudcat is actively seeking input. It would also serve as a two-way information flow, someone wanting to visit a city could initiate the thread FolkVenues:WhichCity or a resident of the city could volunteer the information, as john wants to do for Hull.

Also, doing it my way would enable prospective visitors to "get the flavor" of the place, as people would be sure to write in and give their opinions on certain venues. This would be more valuable than just a bald listing of venue, weekday, time.

Just realized I committed a malapropism in the initial post btw, "instigate" should of course have read "implement"

Murray