It seems there is a definite sense of what folk is . . .

There is? I think one thing that everyone here can agree on is that there isn't a definite sense of what folk is.

. . . and festival committees override it as irrelevant.

I assume you're referring to 1954, or any idea of an academic definition, when you say "override it". Overriding something requires a decision, that someone actually know about it and think about it. In all my years of playing music, organizing concerts, serving on folk music committees, and attending and putting on festivals, no one I know has used anything other than their own tastes, or what they think would be good for their festival or club, to make any decisions.

Really, where is the evidence that anything is decided from above? Continuing to make the same unsupported statement over and over again isn't going to convince anyone that your idea for this thread isn't based on a false premise.