"Back to Betsy's original question. I notice that the festivals she mentions are all in Yorkshire so maybe it's a local phenomenon."

Just been having a look through the programmes for Saltburn and Whitby. Both have plenty of sessions programmed in. In addition, Whitby has sessions for the less confident which is an excellent idea.

I think there is scope for all types of sessions - jump in and play, tunearound and mixed. They will suit different people, though the point someone made earlier about singers moaning during tunes in mixed sessions is something I have come across, not often, I may say but I have noticed it on a couple of occasions. I suspect it is because many people who play instruments also like to sing, but there are a lot of people who only sing and some of them seem to resent the instrumentalists having their turn for some reason.

If a session is getting a bit frenetic, I have found starting a slow air helps to calm things down. Da Slockit Light or the Beautiful Maiden are two of my favourites, but there are plenty of others. If you want to frustrate fiddlers, play Niel Gow's lament for the death of his 2nd wife in G on the flute. It fits beautifully on the flute in G, but fiddlers are used to playing it in D. <wicked grin>

Geoff