I've followed the various threads about the BBC Folk Awards with interest. Like many of you I treated it as an opportunity to see a rare bit of broadly-based folk on TV, rather than expecting it to reflect my own tastes. I personally hate any thought of awards in my own world of "folk" – it's too precious to me to want to trivialise it by setting one song/tune/performance against another. But then again I love small, informal sessions and singarounds and don't even like concerts much, let alone "ceremonies". Still, as others have said, some of these awards do give exposure to some of the newer artists that helps them significantly in their careers. Also, almost any increase in folk programming is a good thing and, despite some of the recipients and some of the acts not being to my personal taste here (some definitely were), I'd say a thank you to the BBC for putting this on.

The programme was well presented, the filming and sound were good (I couldn't tell what Kate Rusby was singing either but apart from that..) and it was a full-length programme. I would hope in future that they could find people to present the awards who knew a bit more about folk music - or even music - or even something other than themselves. I thought both Tamsin Greig and Joanna Trollope were very poor choices and their inability to connect with the audience or recipients could have been predicted in advance. On the other hand, I thought the MCs were fine. It was a bit like winning your own raffle for Barbara Dickson to perform as well as present at the ceremony but she has been around the folk scene for a long time, as well as fronting a quite good Radio Scotland folk programme recently, so even if her song was not to my taste, I can live with it.

A final thought: I know that our friend Stuart Thomas was watching the Mudcat thread about the axing of Folkwaves (see the thread "The end of "Folkwaves" on BBC") so it's quite possible some BBC researcher is watching our views on this programme. I'm glad this thread has avoided the "complain at all costs" that seems to have seeped into some of the other threads about this broadcast and it's good to have a more positive thread. So I say again, well done to the BBC for putting this on: more please, perhaps some will be more to my taste and some more to yours - but at least we'll have something to watch and discuss.