I feel unqualified to sit here criticising the Sidmouth festival in any way as I was there for only the one day, but I should like to say the following about the Ham marquee and then be damned. I was there for the Tuesday concert featuring Altan. They were magnificent, but the venue was not. For starters, it stank. You are supposed to put down straw to cover the mud, not strawy manure. It was a humid and damp evening and the foetid atmosphere in the big tent attracted 100,000,000,000 biting midges. I had insect repellant with me but the guy in front of me, and his missus, were scratching their way through the whole evening. The tent is deep and long, and, as all the seating is on the same level, I doubt that more than 20% of the attendees could actually see a darn thing. Wheel 'em in, take their money and sod 'em seems to be the attitude of the organisers. There was a measly 15 minute interval, during which anyone who required a toilet had to traipse bloody rapidly (lest they missed the second half) to the woefully-inadequate public lavatories up on the prom. By the time I reached the gents they were in a disgusting state. Gawd knows what the ladies were like, but I've never had to queue like that for a pee in my life. I got one chap's life story while I was waiting.   Putting on a free gig? Yeah, great, we'll put up with anything. But charge big mazumas for tickets and assume we all love to be treated like defunct hippies? You're taking the pee, aren't you!