I think that the fringe has always worked well enough with the festival. In past years the festival provided people to run musicians sessions in the Tiger and singarounds in Nellies (later in the Sun) which were attended by a mixture of ticket holders and people who were just there for the fringe. Currently the organisers liase with the fringe people who provide these services.

I also think that the feelings that some people had that the festival never welcomed the fringe stemmed from the inability of the festival organisers to provide 'camping only' tickets. I don't remember this ever happening at Beverley, where camping space has become more limited each year as the Leisure Centre has grown. I don't think that many other festivals provide 'camping only' facilites either, so it's wrong to single out the Beverley Festival organisers for this. Lt's all look forward to another great Beverley and East Riding Folk Festival!