Cross posted there...

SS, the problem I have with your definition (although I can see your logic) is that it is self-referential - "whatever I do is folk because I do it in a 'designated folk context'".

No. Whilst I personally believe that the ultimate Folk Context is Planet Earth, this is not my argument here at all. I'm sorry brought the self-referential stuff into it all, it's muddied the waters of what was intended as a purely objective observation of what is done in the name of Folk Music.   

It is also an attempt to justify your club's open music policy by saying that because it calls itself a "folk club " then anything that takes place there must therefore be "folk"

Not just our club. This is true of all Folk Clubs, not just ours; it is also true of all Folk Festivals, Folk Radio Shows etc. etc.

whereas it would be less misleading to say the club does not limit itself to folk but welcomes all genres of music.

We do say that, but as I say folk is not a genre - it never has been, not even by the 1954 definition.

As a "definition", all it defines is your and your club's activities.

No - if defines the nature of Folk Music as it occurs throughout the world; in England certainly. Go to any folk festival, listen to any folk radio show, look through the folk section of your local HMV, and you'll see this to be true.