The New Tavern Session in Sidmouth (Overflow bar for Carinas Nightclub) has ALWAYS been a 'Fringe' event despite the fact that for several years it has been listed on the Sidmouth Programme as Gerry Milne and Friends . AND on the Festival Map too !
Its completely free , except that we DO have an Official Festival collecting tin which Gerry rattles fairly regularly .
Sidmouth is fortunate in that it has a number of pubs where all sorts of things happen during the Festival week , including quiet boozing and socialising .
Sadly , some towns and small villages DONT have spare Bar space for informal sessions , which is NOT the fault of the Festival Organisers
And IF a Landlord decides to book a Rock Band to try to attract drinkers to his pub , thats not the Festivals fault either !
Lets try and be reasonable - As I said earlier in this thread , I am NOT a Listening Oik , but DO like to have a sing/play with other like minded people , so DONT just slag a Festival off if the local pubs dont want the 'Hairy Arsed Folkie Crowd' clurttering up their space !!