Folk festivals are not about rules - they are about music.

I feel that too often volunteers are exposed and seen by the customers as setting the tone of the event. They are often left only with the idea that their role is to unhold these rules to the letter. They do not (or say they do not) have the powers of descretion that the organisers do, and some volunteers can can hide behind this. And rather than actually solve a customer's problem, can make it worse and turn a minor concern into a major row and a resulting complaint.

I remember a few years back at Sidmouth there was a Showcase event. I went along to the office and booked a spot. When I arrived to perform and even though my name was on the list, the steward on the door would not let me in unless I paid my admission. I could have just paid this but I did not have the money at this time. I could have just given up the idea but those who put my name on the list did not mention this as a requirement - so I went back to the office and was eventually allowed to enter and perform. To make matters worse, on the way back to the venue, I bumped into the musician who was then performing with me and who I did not know was even in town. He was eager to perform with me but the thought of trying to get him in (and his wife and children) was just too much - so I performed alone.   

Despite the impression given in this thread, I suspect there are very few of us who have not experienced situations where some minor official has made our lives far more difficult than they ever needed to be, by the classic and inflexible 'jobsworth' attitude. What then is the correct way for us to deal with such abuses? Is it just to accept and ignore them - for fear of being labelled a 'professional complainer'?

If that is the advice and such attitudes are not to be challenged and for this reason - I suggest that we prepare ourselves, as all our lives are set to be made far more difficult than they ever need to be.