Sounds like a lack of publicity problem to me. Was the event advertised on Mudcat/at local folk clubs etc? Personally I can be quite happy at a festival with no big name acts so long as the participatory stuff is going off. If there are neither big names nor great sessions (or workshops) then it's going to be a bit of a dead loss. This means that if there aren't going to be any big names, then the thing needs to be publicised within the folk, instrument playing, singing community.

F