I do think that festivals do have to cut their cloth and are often constricted by availability of VENUES to accommodate whatever event is required

I (no names) am somewhat concerned that festivals can become one big beer festival ~ and pubs are allocated a mic and loud singer (hopefully a folk artist needing the money or local act and not a pop artist) this goes to the root of what Folk is all about ~ seats and ability to listen without mouthing at others due to deafness

Worse still other pubs decide to their own thing ~ hopefully festival funding will reflect pubs higher turnover!! Shops and other establishments sometimes have short arms and long pockets!

Malcolm Storey was succesful in his period of tenure at Whitby ~ the festival was augmented by festival fringe and price of beer at the
trendy pubs was high! Still is and of course the high visibility of dance groups of all ilks is a great advertisement ~ WMC still have decent prices btw!

Current 2018 Whitby ff should attract more ppl as no clash with the Regatta for accommodation ~ venues can be a walkaway and I know festival goers who are getting on and have mobility issues will stay near the best venue

Lot of goodwill involved in running festivals and not everyone is a "paid" booked artist and there are many still there "on their annual holidays" or giving their time and expertise for nowt ~ so financial equations will often ignore this aspect of goodwill or deter potential attendees ~ of course a true ticket price would be enormous if everyone was paid!!

You all know that singaround festivals and dedicated workshops have all now been established and the high financial outlay of bigger all encompassing festivals have lost some footfall ~ square one!!

Ray