It has to be said that not everybody who is prepared to get up and perform is going to be able to do so in a way which provides entertainment to those who have paid to get in and listen. It may sound harsh to say this but organisers have a duty to ensure, to a greater or lesser degree, that those customers who have paid money over for an evening's entertainment, receive something that they feel has given them good value.

I can cite a recent situation where a 'late night extra' was put on, to raise money to help pay the costs of a Festival. It was set up by the booked artists themselves, who wanted to do something. A charge waas made for tickets, it was a sort of 'meet the artists' in a very informal setting, where they let their hair down and did stuff they wouldn't normally do.

Inevitably, we got other people saying 'I'll do you a few songs if you will wive the admission'. But the thing is, where you have an audience made up almost completely of 'folkies' - 99.9% of them would have been able and willing to say that - the result would have been .... no money raised.

And, I'm sorry but just because people want to sing (or play) does not mean I am going to want tp pay to listen to them.