GUEST,Armanaya: "I received a feedback request by e-mail on Monday and have not booked for next year as yet." & "Yes it was a personalised link just coincidance we got it at the same time as the confomation I guess."

That's not so bad, then. I retract my earlier remark about cunning Cameron-style doublethink!

Yes, the self-catering deals are extraordinarily cheap, especially if you don't mind sharing with a few friends. The party I was with took turns to provide a main meal for us all, which worked very well, and kept costs down, as we only had to find lunch for ourselves. The chalet wasn't fantastic, but I've paid a lot more for worse accommodation.

The weekend's programme included one or two acts that were hardly folk, in my book, but that's true of many festivals, and you don't expect to like everything. And there were some great sets by some brilliant performers.

Yes, the long waits between acts were irritating – and so was that ridiculous smoke they insisted on pumping out almost all the time (except for during Ralph McTell's set, he was allowed to breathe. Had he complained?) I noticed several performers having to cough discreetly off-mike during their sets.

Yes, it was far too crowded in the two venues most of the time and the swirling spotlights in Centre Stage were a pain. And the sound was inexcusably bad at times, often poorly balanced or excruciatingly loud (I've been to – and enjoyed – heavy metal gigs before; I never expected to be deafened by one man with an acoustic guitar!!!).

But the Butlins staff were friendly & very helpful, and the Sun & Moon pub's conservatory proved to be an ideal venue for the informal session that we got started (and which then took on a life of its own, thanks to Ray, who kept it going for most of Saturday and Sunday, and thanks to Pete at the excellent PJ Music stand who told people about it). It would be great if that session could become a feature of future folk events at Butlins.

We even had a French dance/session in the Sun & Moon from 10.30–noon on Sunday before the mixed song/tune session took over for the rest of the day. Many thanks to the staff team at the Sun & Moon for allowing us to use the room and for being so helpful.

People obviously felt a need for these inclusive, participatory events, rather than just passively listening to the paid performers. A few more similar informal options would also help to relieve the pressure on seating in the concert venues, especially at times when only one of those is operating.