The Monday night session is an informal affair run, as I said, by local singers and musicians, The fact that they use the Victoria Hotel is coincidental, the Victoria presumably allows them the use of the space in the absence of any other commercial opportunity on a Monday night (Glasson Dock is a very small village). Like all such pubs nowadays, the Victoria relies on serving food rather than drink for its living. The Dalton Arms didn't have to give up any of their tables to accommodate the festival, that's what the marquee was for. The Stork (half-a-mile away in Conder Green) had a bit more space available indoors, so were able to host singaround sessions and concerts. The festival of its nature is a largely free event as far as both visitors and locals are concerned. There are a couple of concerts for which a reasonable fee is charged. Aside from local authority funding, the festival depends on the generosity of private sponsors. It is not unusual to expect commercial premises to contribute to be part of such an event, the usual expectation being that they will more than cover their outlay through increased custom linked to the festival. Presumably the Victoria made a commercial decision based on their own assessment. It's a shame the festival didn't get them on board. No doubt they benefitted from the extra numbers of visitors over the weekend, but then so did the Lock-keepers Rest, and Lantern o'er the Lune cafes and the (at risk) village post office and shop.

Ross