trying to get my head round what you are saying about meshing holistically - isn't what you describe part of offering something for everyone ?
and if we as folkies were a little more open wouldn't we be trying to embrace the younger population and provide the broad range of material that they can relate to and will hopefully draw them into folk music - including the despised wild rover and irish ?
as for freak week - it sounds a fair description of what I saw all over town - if we make ourselves look ridiculous we cannot be surprised that perceptive young people pick up on it
how do you want to reduce the number of people in the pubs - provide entertainment that nobody likes - build extensions on the pubs - involve even more pubs or put the whole thing into soulless marquees ?
as for intimidating - if these under 25s walked through the streets in groups with blackened faces wielding large wooden clubs then I think they would soon be down the local nick
unless we go to a greenfield site we cannot expect the festival to take place in a vacuum away from social changes that cover the entire country and given time the smaller festivals will have to address the same issues that they have been fortunate enough to avoid so far
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sj