"I'm not sure that I see the professional folk performers as the main carriers of the folk tradition; it had, after all, gone on for hundreds of years without them."

I don't think so. For example:
"He who pays the piper calls the tune" is a proverb older than the 20th Century folk revival.
The broadsides that carry the words of songs and ballads and are still used as a source of words by singers who research their traditional material were sold for the purpose of making money for the songwriters and printer.

"I think the real strength lies in the hundreds (thousands?) of people who sing and play and dance for the love of it, the many folk club organisers who put in hours of unpaid work (and quite often their own money), and the armies of volunteers who run the festivals in return for a season ticket that they can't get full value from because they are working so hard."

I'd be the last person to denigrate the great work that all those people put in, but to use your own words, "the folk tradition has gone on for hundreds of years without them", too.

The truth is, both groups need each other. If there wasn't the network of beginner-friendly clubs, workshops and sessions where aspiring singers can learn their trade, there wouldn't be any professionals (as someone quoted, they were all beginners once). If there were no professionals, there'd be far less recording and dissemination of material - (where would people learn their songs from?) and there would be far fewer and much smaller festivals - try running a festival without booking any paid performers!

By professional performers, I mean anyone who gets paid. Very few make a living entirely out of folk music, some do it full time and I don't envy their lifestyle at all, and I think the vast majority, like myself, are part timers. That doesn't mean, however, that they should sing and play for less than their music is worth - they are devaluing the market and putting the full timers out of business by doing that.

I should add that I'm quite aware than many people are part of both groups. Think of people like Bob and Gill Berry. Both have day jobs, they work their socks off running a festival and a club but if they can get a few paid gigs too they deserve to get a decent rate for it.

Anahata