Is this analogous to the election? We are in the aftermath of a recession/depression and when the market is fragmented and the punters hesitate over the choices: they go with the familiar.

Maybe the numbers have been falling for some time and there are not enough of the "familiarista" now. Other festivals seem to be growing. Take Warwick - being so close to Sidmouth you might think it would be shrinking, but not by any measure I put on this year's crowd. Mind you Warwick has excelent and quirky kiddos entertainment and being in a large school grounds I saw a lot of kids enjoying the spaces unfettered by parental admonishments. And a healthy crop of teens and twenties as well as the thirties with family. We are a conveyor belt, festivals and Folk in general need those youngsters getting on to compensate the losses at the other end.

If you want things to survive, as a punter even, you have to make it welcoming to all ages. I try, but then I have an obvious talking point to get started with.