Right, just sat with a highlighter pen and a Chippenham programme through my lunch break at work to get to the actual facts.
Where can the casual folkie sing or play at this fine fest?

Inspection of the official programme reveals the only organised singing sessions – two of them each day from 2.00 till 4.00 – clash with one another.
Then there's the Festival 'Folk Club' in the Cause Hall from 20.30 to 23.00 Fri/Sat/Sun only – where one can wait in turn for a spot – singing OR playing presumably. (I have attended these past two years and staying ALL night MIGHT bag you one song – occasionally two for the duration).
There are no other organised 'singing' sessions I can see other than one three-quarter-hour late night run through of organised ('led') chorus songs in the Cause Auditorium.

As for 'playing'.
The ONLY scheduled EVENING Irish Session at the Old Road Tavern ( led by Steve Morris) appears to be timetabled for 20.00 to 23.00 on the Friday in the official programme - and on no other evening!
Yes, there are more similar Irish sessions scheduled on the Sat, Sun & Mon for that venue – but all of them from 12.00 noon to 14.00
And, just like the singing sessions, the 'Extra' playing sessions in the Bar Reva, or the 'English' one in the Rose & Crown Barn all clash with the afternoon Irish sessions too.

The 'offending' party referred to, Mr Russell, worked hard on the Music Room's Stand, all day long, each day - thus being unable to attend ALL the organised singing sessions AND all the playing sessions except the Friday night session at the Old Road Tavern. Did he sing during that session on the Friday night?
Or was it on Sat, Sun or Monday evenings?
If that was the case, why then would anyone deny him a chance to both sing and play along with anybody and everybody else equally entitled, over a beer in a pub room where no officially organised event was happening?

The only other official entry in the programme for the Old Road Tavern on an evening was the Stick and Bucket competition.
At ALL OTHER TIMES the pub in question was open to all comers – to drink and make merry - in the side rooms and garden – in whatever fashion they saw fit – be it reciting poetry, singing, playing – all on an equal footing.
For anyone to suggest they in effect 'owned' the territory and deny any other their right to 'party' on equal footing in the situation, seems a wee bit off kilter.

Personally, we took our instruments up to the Old Road on the Friday evening for a 'sing' and found not only the 'official' session indoors, but a second playing session going on in the garden. We never unpacked our instruments, but supped beer and listened instead.
On returning on the Sat eve, there was no music happening in the garden on our arrival - so out came our instruments, so we sang round a table there for a good long while - leaving many musical spaces, should anyone else want to strike up also.
Just a little tolerance required, eh?
Cheers! HFA