Guest, who thinks they should pose as a guest, you say: 'Much as it seems worthy to support tiny festivals like Miskin do you think these events are going to keep folk music thriving? One look at the websites of these smaller festivals and photographs of the audience profile will give you your answer.'
I hope that you were inferring that they would! Miskin is a superb place for kids to immerse themselves in the folk and traditions of great Britiain. If you DID look at the photographs, what you would see, was a very large amount of younger, and according to the photos, VERY happy people, taking an active part in the festival. Morris dancing with Herbaceous Border, Clog dancing, playing music, mumming, pace egging, making corn dollies, making folkie friends with whom they feel comfortable performing - one group of youngsters kept me awake half of the night playing, but it was so good I actually enjoyed being kept awake. There are many younger acts also at Miskin - Mash, a group of young Musicians won the Harry Prigg trophy there a couple of years ago, and they were stunning. Then there is the story telling round the fire, too, all these things are what makes this the ONE festival in the year that my kids WILL NOT miss.
What, I think, more makes for a lack of younger folkies at Larger festivals, is probably the higher cost of buying a ticket, granted you may be paying for 'more famous acts' but, may I say, not necessarily 'better acts' Cost wise, for our family of 2 adults and 2 kids - one 16 and one 12, to go to Miskin, will cost for camping & tickets £109.50 and to go to Sidmouth the cost is £572. Granted it is for a longer period, but even so it is beyond our price bracket, the smaller festivals also are more family friendly, The amount of times I have been frowned at 'cos my kids are making a noise, but I have seen more noisy and rude adults talk through singers performances and strangely they dont seem to get the same treatment that parents of kids get!
Im not knocking bigger festivals, I am sure that there are those who do enjoy them, but dont demean the smaller ones, which in my opinion have so much more to offer. I cannot abide all this mud slinging, this is, after all the Mudcat cafe not the Mudslinging Cafe! The idea I think, unless I am mistaken, is that we are a group of people with a common interest, In order to ensure that folk music survives, which it will anyway!, it should be a sharing thing, FOLK of the people, for the people, by the people, It saddens me that it needs to be so commercialised, and that with commercialisation comes a sort of class divison. I for one will not be told what I should and should not like, and love the folk process of passing on. With that passing on, there will be changes, it is inevitable and nothing is set in stone. Before the likes of Cecil Sharp and Baring Gould there was no standardisation of tunes, so a person would sing it as they heard it from uncle bill or whoever, now if you stand up and sing a song, somebody will often tell you that you have got the tune wrong - things have lost their old magic, but then that is part of the changing face of traditional music. There, I shall stand down from my soap box.

As for you Mr Observer, you are most observant! LOL
Cheers, Lucy