It is significant that the initial criticisms in this thread by Mr Red were about the dance side of the festival, but the positive comments that followed were about hte concerts, fringe and sessions.

I agree with Mr Red it was dumb to have the Monday ceilidh finish at 9.30 - in previous years it was a family ceilidh on until 11pm. Parents are capable of deciding when our kids should go to bed, and at 9.30 it is too late to go to a concert and we can't take kids into a pub session.
Incidently why were all the Blackmore ceilidhs finished at 10.30 instead of 11 as in previous years, and why have "nuceilidhs" (described as challenging) unless it meant experts only - not very inclusive.
Last year in Blackmore there were adfternoon dance displays and teatime meet the team sessions, much less this year.
Overall the dance side of the festival was poor compared to the last 2-3 years. Has there been a change of organisers, a change of policy to downgrade dance, or what?