SS, a definition which encompasses anything is no use as a definition.

The reality is that anything goes in a Folk Club, or a Folk Festival, or even a Folk CD / CD-R. If people can play it or sing it, then bet your arse that they generally do. I'm looking at context here - the context of Folk - which is pretty big I'd say, or small, depending how you look at it. Thus, Folk is like Flotsam, which can encompass anything by way of context (just as long as it floats) but remains pretty useful as a definition nevertheless. Thus Flotsam might encompass a Rubber Duck from the 2006 Liffey Rubber Duck Race washed up on Fleetwood Beach is Flotsam; likewise a French Fishing Float washed up on Brighton Beach or indeed the Fish Crate from Castletownbere or even a Salmon Crate from Connemara (both washed up at Fleetwood).

In a Folk Club or Folk Festival there is Individual Diversity yet there is a Communal Unity - and Unity in Diversity is a very good thing; a tad ecumenical for fundamentalists perhaps, but the Folk Thang rides on its own sweet groove, regardless. So whatever your particular stripe, whatever your dig-bag might be, we welcome you in the name of Folk and the message shall forever be - Come All Ye!