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Editor: 

It has been two years now since I resigned as the Director of the c Folk Festival, and people still come up to me and thank me profusely--some with tears in their eyes. Then they ask the inevitable question: "Why did you move the Festival from Fellowship Hall to Ashkenaz?" I am writing this letter to answer this question.  

I started the Festival in 1995 after an inspiring conversation with David Nadel, the late owner of Ashkenaz. I wanted to create a joyful venue for the expression of folk music. From the beginning, the Festival received an outpouring of enthusiastic support from many of the talented musicians and artists living in the Bay Area, the volunteers who helped produce the Festival, the local arts councils and foundations that provided funding, and the audience members who came to enjoy the free music.  

The first four festivals (1996-1999) were held at the Unitarian Universalists' Fellowship Hall in North Berkeley. Fellowship Hall is unique to Berkeley. It has a main hall, a large fenced outdoor area with ample play facilities for children, indoor rooms for workshops, and plenty of space for the informal "jamming" that occurs spontaneously when folk musicians get together.  

Fellowship Hall contributed greatly to the atmosphere and positive feeling of the Festival, and I do not believe a more appropriate venue could be found in any metropolitan area. I am very grateful to the Unitarian Universalists for allowing us to hold our Festival at their beautiful facility. 

It was my intention from the beginning to keep the Festival small and manageable, both to insure my ability to do the work required and also in keeping with the philosophy that folk music should be presented in an intimate setting with good acoustics.  

In my capacity as Festival Director, I worked approximately 700 hours each year as a volunteer, in addition to my full-time paid employment, which made size and manageability critical. 

There was a dark side that until now I have spoken little about, in order to preserve the integrity and spirit of the Festival itself.  

However, it has become apparent that in spite of the spontaneous outpouring of enthusiasm and hard work by everyone involved, the Festival has, in effect, been destroyed by one individual --an individual who wants to be seen as a well-meaning crusader on behalf of the disabled.  

In spite of all our efforts, few months after the 1999 Festival, the Board of Unitarian Universalists called me to say that we would no longer be allowed torent Fellowship Hall. I was later told that they were threatened with a lawsuit and that they were not willing to deal with this potential problem--even though I firmly believe any lawsuit would have been meritless. Obviously,  

Festival management never had any desire to hold the Festival in an inappropriate venue, but there are many considerations including acoustics, manageability, available facilities, parking and transit access, and the cost of renting a facility that go into selecting a site for a festival. No site is perfect and all the available choices involve some compromise. Balancing all of these considerations, the Festival Board of Advisors and I concluded that Fellowship Hall was the best available location and we chose to stay there. 

The Berkeley Free Folk Festival had its own integrity and might eventually have grown into something larger if funding and volunteer power had become available.  

As it is, we'll probably never know because the new Director and I have both spent so much time fending off the attacks, demands, and histrionics that there has been little time left over to raise money or consider plans for an event larger than already exists.  

In all probability there will not be another Festival. 

Editor: 

It has been two years now since I resigned as the Director of the c Folk Festival, and people still come up to me and thank me profusely--some with tears in their eyes. Then they ask the inevitable question: "Why did you move the Festival from Fellowship Hall to Ashkenaz?" I am writing this letter to answer this question.  

I started the Festival in 1995 after an inspiring conversation with David Nadel, the late owner of Ashkenaz. I wanted to create a joyful venue for the expression of folk music. From the beginning, the Festival received an outpouring of enthusiastic support from many of the talented musicians and artists living in the Bay Area, the volunteers who helped produce the Festival, the local arts councils and foundations that provided funding, and the audience members who came to enjoy the free music.  

The first four festivals (1996-1999) were held at the Unitarian Universalists' Fellowship Hall in North Berkeley. Fellowship Hall is unique to Berkeley. It has a main hall, a large fenced outdoor area with ample play facilities for children, indoor rooms for workshops, and plenty of space for the informal "jamming" that occurs spontaneously when folk musicians get together.  

Fellowship Hall contributed greatly to the atmosphere and positive feeling of the Festival, and I do not believe a more appropriate venue could be found in any metropolitan area. I am very grateful to the Unitarian Universalists for allowing us to hold our Festival at their beautiful facility. 

It was my intention from the beginning to keep the Festival small and manageable, both to insure my ability to do the work required and also in keeping with the philosophy that folk music should be presented in an intimate setting with good acoustics.  

In my capacity as Festival Director, I worked approximately 700 hours each year as a volunteer, in addition to my full-time paid employment, which made size and manageability critical. 

There was a dark side that until now I have spoken little about, in order to preserve the integrity and spirit of the Festival itself.  

However, it has become apparent that in spite of the spontaneous outpouring of enthusiasm and hard work by everyone involved, the Festival has, in effect, been destroyed by one individual --an individual who wants to be seen as a well-meaning crusader on behalf of the disabled.  

In spite of all our efforts, few months after the 1999 Festival, the Board of Unitarian Universalists called me to say that we would no longer be allowed torent Fellowship Hall. I was later told that they were threatened with a lawsuit and that they were not willing to deal with this potential problem--even though I firmly believe any lawsuit would have been meritless. Obviously,  

Festival management never had any desire to hold the Festival in an inappropriate venue, but there are many considerations including acoustics, manageability, available facilities, parking and transit access, and the cost of renting a facility that go into selecting a site for a festival. No site is perfect and all the available choices involve some compromise. Balancing all of these considerations, the Festival Board of Advisors and I concluded that Fellowship Hall was the best available location and we chose to stay there. 

The Berkeley Free Folk Festival had its own integrity and might eventually have grown into something larger if funding and volunteer power had become available.  

As it is, we'll probably never know because the new Director and I have both spent so much time fending off the attacks, demands, and histrionics that there has been little time left over to raise money or consider plans for an event larger than already exists.  

In all probability there will not be another Festival. 

Jessica Bryan 

Felton, California 

Felton, California