Just had to say a quick thankyou to the lovely people who organised this and gave me a great day on Saturday. The three sessions I attended on Saturday were all very different. It was strictly tunes in the first one, with the amazing C13 - wow, those ladies were good and knew so many tunes - and I kind of hung in doggedly on my autoharps. The second session was much more of a singaround, run by Smithy, with some great voices - Chris, Ray, John and many others - and good humour, making it very rewarding, could have gone on longer. The final session, run by the excellent Steve Gardham, was a mixed bag, alternating tunes and songs, with again some excellent playing from C13 and singing from loads of people. I did get a chance to do an autoharp solo just before I left to go 20 miles back to my B&B, so again thanks for that.

I hope the festival continues. Looking at the numbers in the audiences for the main acts, I got the impression they may be struggling. It was kind of shut away in a corner of Helmsley, and did not seem well signposted or publicised. It seemed quite detached from the town, which does not auger well for its success. I don't know whether it made any money. But I certainly enjoyed the bit I tasted, and added whenever I could to the collection bins that were around the place. I would willingly have paid for each session, and think that might help in future.