Living in Tenerife, UK Folk Music is difficult to find but our local pub/restaurant (not in the main tourist areas, but "up the hill" towards the volcano, el Teide), is always packed.
We go there to hear good, acoustic music and Folkwaves is so often the spawning ground for ex-pat enthusiasm and inspiration for the next meeting.
Unfortunately our local venue can only hold such evenings in alternate weeks during the main holiday seasons, so we "Folkies" listen to BBC iPlayer to keep us up to date with what is happening in our "home" locations.
The level of disgust I have heard over the past few days from our regular visitors has been astounding. To get rid of Folkwaves has been likened to "the murder of an old and much loved member of the family".
This is one of the very few BBC programmes I have listened to over the past ten years since I moved here and it has been the basis of many musical discussions and rehearsals. Also it has generated new "folkies" and spawned CD sales over the past few years. Shame on the BBC. Maybe if they produced more CDs themselves they might see the relevance of such programmes as a means of selling the music.
Heaven forbid that they should be seen as commercial but it could generate money to keep such "minority" interests on air.