Around here, most folk venues operate during what I call the "academic year"--September through May or early June. Festivals operate during the late spring, summer, and early fall. When there's an overlap of dates, I have been known to drive from a festival to an evening concert at a folk venue on a Saturday night and then returning to the festival on Sunday. It is good to see someone who played at a folk venue as a relative unknown appear at a folk festival and become known to many more people. The downside is that sometimes after that happens the folk venues can no longer afford the price the performer can now command! Sometimes, though, they do come back to the folk venues, asking for an affordable fee.