Our festival-Jacob's Ladder , in Israel, is perhaps special as it caters from people from many different backgrounds from all parts of the English speaking world- North America- Britain Australia etc, as well as native born Hebrew speaking Israelis.As such the program can't be too specialised, which is perhaps a good thing. It is also an alien concept in the Middle East , and doesn't enjoy much official support, ie money. The ticket prices must cover the cost of the whole thing. Apart from a couple of new age ethnic festivals, it is the only one in the country, and so most of the folkies in the country attend. It is a family oriented festival, with early morning kids' shows and late night performances too. The big difference from UK festivals is that, while a few people have a few beers- noone drinks much, noone gets drunk- and the beer companies give us very limited support-They provide a few crates for the performers , who tend to drink more than the entire audience- I wonder why? The distances and travel costs involved mean we invite one or two overseas guest groups only each year on an expenses paid+ hospitality basis- Any takers for 2001? emails to jaclad@canaan.co.il.For more info and pics see http://jacobs-ladder.co.il Mev(Jack The Lad)