I agree that Sidmouth is very special.

It is far from perfect and main reason it is not, is the constant uncertainty of its future. The town, organisers and all of us deserve better than this uncertainty and division. It seems like a constant feature almost every year

If it matters, I have nothing against Mrs Casey, other than than this uncertainty. This is clear if you take the time to read the whole of this thread. I tend to view festival organisers like a football referee, if I am not aware of them, they must be doing a good job. But this job is to enable. We do not come to admire the referee and if any referee expects anything other than abuse, they are in the wrong job.

Festival organisers should not expect abuse, they do not generally deserve this. However, we do not attend festivals because of them and they should not really expect our approval. Especially as in this case, the professional organisers have placed the festival's future in doubt. Their job is to enable it and if they cannot or are not willing to manage this - they should expect a little flak. I suspect that they do expect this, even if some of their loyal supporters appear to think they can do no wrong. None of us are perfect.