In response, Richard B, to your suggestion and call for a post-mortem, I can only give a personal take…

I go more-or-less only to the participatory events - the Neptune, the Woodshed and Tom and Barbara's singaround. They're essentially sessions IMO but gently organised, not spontaneous/unofficial. We stay in B&B or, in previous years, self-catering in the town. Season tickets, especially when linked to camping, are a total mismatch for the sort of festival I actually experience and I would never buy one. I agree that it would be far better to uncouple the one-size-fits-all approach of linking the season ticket to camping. The modern way is to let people pay for what they want.

The festival itself was much as I always experience it, i.e. brilliant apart from the almost intolerable 'fugginess' in some sessions. You have to be quite highly motivated to contend with that and, for me, staying awake is quite a problem.

I've noticed a migration of emphasis towards the so-called 'Hub', i.e. campsite events. This is bad news for non-campers/non-season-ticket holders, but understandable in view of the decline in support by town pubs and the under-age drinking problem which BFW has seemingly attracted, despite TOTAL disconnection with the festival. For the first time there was a massive police presence this year. While reassuring in some respects, this is not the festival - or the Broadstairs - I once knew. I don't have an answer. It's depressing. I'll continue to enjoy the town festival as long as it lasts, but if it goes out of town I will very sadly be looking elsewhere for my annual high.

Richard