To McGrath,
It's not the same. I would hope that anyone wanting to play or sing in a pub would first ask the landlord (or landlady) if that was OK. If the answer is no, then you can't do much about it. It's not usually a case of getting written permission. In the case of Whittlesea Straw Bear, you have local organisers, so it is polite to ask them if you want to perform. As made clear in the above posts, they have to tread a thin line to keep the event going. We may rant about the petty bureaucracy of the authorities, but that is the reality.

Tradsinger