I am studying for an MA in Folklore and Cultural Tradition at NATCECT (National Centre for English Cultural Tradition) at the University of Sheffield. I am currently carrying out research for my dissertation, and wondered if any members of this forum would like to contribute. My research question is 'Do competitions play a significant role in maintaining tradition and/or improving standards within the Folk Arts?'
I would appreciate any information on competitions or contests past and present, personal experiences, views and opinions, references that I may not have found, in fact, anything that you think might be useful. I would welcome contributions from anywhere in the world.
I hope you don't mind me asking on this forum - it's not an easy way of doing research, but a method of reaching people that would otherwise be inaccessible to me.
All references will be correctly cited and the usual conventions of confidentiality adhered to.
I thank you for taking the time to read this.

Mo Bradshaw