In response to the BBC Folk Musician of the Year thread, but under a more relevant title:

The Village Halls Circuit has existed for many years, funded usually by local authorities, to bring the arts to country communities rather than expecting them to go to the big theatres in towns and cities. It's given work to many gigging folk musicians, amongst other artists (jazz, classical, drama, films, etc.) and brought folk music to the attention of many outside the folk scene.

Unfortunately, many local authorities are now putting the squeeze on the funding in their attempts to keep council tax rises down. Our local authority has cut the funding for this completely, whilst still quite generously funding the two local town theatres. This has meant that the villages in our area simply can't afford to put on these artists at the not unreasonable fees that they charge. The secondary effect that it has is that these communities have lost another opportunity to cement those communities, which with so many working outside the villages and so many incoming residents was an important aspect of the circuit.

Barbara