Why is there no singaround in the Rowing Club till late Fri and Sat nights?

Sorry if I am stepping on delicate toes here, I don't mean to do.

But I did notice some animosity last year when many going to the Rowing Club bar hardly dare ask for their drink order in more than a quiet whisper lest they would be shusshed and given the evil eye by the accumulated throng of singers in the club room. And I know that many were irked by this.

This seems to me to be a great shame if singing in the Rowing Club is effectively 'banned' this year on Fri and Sat nights because of a sense of a split in social interests last year and because "the dancers are in the majority" (quote GUEST dunelmian1943) and therefore they have the casting vote and influence.

I love a good singaround and perhaps thought naively that many morris dancers also liked a singaround, but looks like I was wrong.

What worries me here is that only a few years back when it was based at the (I think) Rugby Club, I came across very strong animosity then from singers and musicians against what they perceived as a growing invasion of 'bloody morris dancers' and they felt that they were becoming outnumbered and sidelined.
I know many singers and musicians from attending many folk festivals over many years and they are my firm friends but when I told them that I was also a drummer with a morris side they said "Oh no, not another one!"

It seems to be an age old problem where there seems to be a big divide and rift between morris dancers as a collective group and serious singers and musicians as a collective group.

I, for one, feel part of both but also appreciate that there are differences between both camps and just wish that we could all be in harmony together.

What really troubles me is that the way things are going in terms of the future of The Durham Folk Party, in not many years, it will not be " a right old song and dance " party it will be just become an endless gathering of morris teams and just a "dance" party.
And the singers and musicians will have just voted with their feet and decided not to bother because they felt excluded.

I hate to be negative because I love Durham Folk Party but I do seriously worry about its future and whether you can achieve some kind of balance in the folk fraternity to ensure that it's future is secure.
Only time will tell and I sincerely hope that you will find the balance and that this great event will go from strength to strength for many years to come.

Very best regards.

Chris