Sure, we all go for different things! As I said, Whitby was fun, but not quite my scene.

Re the "average holiday makers", my experience at other festivals has been that the music was the focus for everyone in that area, so even if they weren't specifically there for the music, they'd be sat in a pub while people were playing in the pub garden. And the places have been full of musicians, whether actively busking or just sitting around and playing for fun.

At Whitby, if it wasn't for the dance sides, you could have spent the entire week in the town and been unaware that there was a folk festival happening. All the workshops, concerts and impromptu sessions happened behind closed doors, and I've never seen so few buskers in a town centre before. Maybe a better way of putting it is not that we were outnumbered by the "average holiday makers", but that the "average holiday makers" didn't know anything was happening or where to find the music if they wanted to.

Graham.