Remember all those poor, neglected bands you used to tell us about, Lizzie? The Seth Lakemans, the Kate Rusbys, the Show of Hands? They get paid massive fees to do festivals, because they won't play otherwise. Once a festival has paid maybe 25% of its budget to the headline act, they have a lot less money to pay those poor struggling musicians down at the bottom. If some of those big acts halved their fee so that more of the artist budget could be spent on acts further down the bill, maybe that would be fairer than suggesting that festival organisers (many of whom work all year to bring you events to enjoy without getting paid a penny)should pull more money out of thin air to pay more people.

A few years ago one festival lost some funding at the last minute and wrote to all its artists asking them to take a 50% cut in their fee. A lot of the artists down the bill did so, but I was told that the headliner (one of the very acts you have told us is so hard done by over the years) took every penny of the contracted fee. A bit of wealth redistribution in the folk world is maybe what's needed.

Musicians here have told you why they do what they do. You are not a musician. Have the good sense to respect the point of view of people who do what they do because they are passionate and it gives them joy.