Mitch Podolak, the founder of the Winnipeg Folk Festival (and father of Leonard Podolak of the Duhks), left little doubt where he stands on the issue when he responded to "Puzzled," who said that folkies shouldn't bite the hands that feed them.

Mitch's response:

Dear Puzzled, Hitler's car factory reminds us of his stinking memory, having Volkswagen even exist as a company is an affront to all decent thinking people. Hitler was not just a madman, he was a politician on the make and giving everybody an affordable car was good politics, which is why Volkswagen got going. Having Volkswagen on the grounds of a folk festival, especially a festival that historically was built by people who identified with anti-fascist thought (Seegerism), demonstrates clearly the lure of the almighty buck, especially among the unprincipled in our community and clearly shows a real disregard for all the people who were murdered.

I asked this question of Terry Sargent who is the current president of the Winnipeg Folk Festival and he justified it by saying that the same was true about all the car companies GM etc, which of course is a disingenuous load of crap. Hitler didn't start GM. Berners comments were exactly on the money and he needs to be cheered on. To be clear Berners comments were not anti-German, they were not racist, they were distinctly anti-Nazi and anti-racist and I'm proud to be in the same community as Berner. I think that the entire leadership of the festival needs an education in ethics and that includes my friends on the staff forever conceiving that Hitler’s political tool would be a fine addition to the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Biting the hand that feeds eh? Is that what you said? Don't be naive, Volkswagen goes to a folk festival for the same reason that they go to the CNE and that is to sell cars by inserting themselves on site, they like the festival demographics. It looked like the CNE rather than anything else. They don't give a flying shit about folk music.

The reaction among the festival volunteers was the most telling. The overt commercialism at this year’s festival was so noticeable that it was the main backstage complaint aired at this year’s festival including the Saturday rain. I kept hearing about it without raising it. It really offended a lot of the most experienced core people in the volunteer organization.

Because of my relationship to the festival, I tend to be a receptacle of all the complaints. People think that talking with me will change stuff. That is also naive.

Mitch Podolak
Founder
Winnipeg Folk Festival