Just my view - but to my mind the best folk festivals are when the folk are involved in every aspect of them - rather than being there primarily as paying spectators. Perhaps when the paid performances are thought more to form the fringe events?

For a paying audience seeing a sample of perhaps a number of different acts - commercial festivals on the line that the past Mrs Casey ones were at Sidmouth are good value. But to see the very best performance of an individual act - it is probably better to see them when they are the main attraction, can perform for longer and can control all the aspects of their performance.   

This is not to say that paid performers have no place at all at folk festivals - far from it. But if the struggle to pay for these top performers whilst still trying to make a profit from the festival - (given the other uncertainties like that of our climate) - mean the sort of atmosphere - where charging admission to the music and craft stalls is thought necessary - perhaps festivals of that type are not really worth us all paying this price?