Don't know how it is in the U.K., but here there are several depressing factors in this sort of thing:

* The rising cost of absolutely everything;
* The increasing numbers of competing events on each and every weekend which causes lowered attendance;
and
* The huge amount of entertainment available in the home, including movies on DVD, TV, and of course the Internet, all of which keep people from going to the trouble of going anywhere at all.

We're feeling it in at the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, and in the world of handcrafting and craft shows too. Our local wood carving club had to give up its annual show. Huge costs, steadily decreasing attendance and income. There is NO good weekend to hold a craft show, there will probably be at least a dozen major shows in easy driving distance of wherever you are.

Oh, and another thing: In our area, there are lots of wealthy corporations etc that drive up prices. One of our sites for the FSGW Getaway got priced out of our range when they did a tiny amount of much needed renovation and started billing the camp as a "Conference Center." We saw the sign and knew it would be the end of its affordability. Yup. They doubled the cost.