NEW Bedford Folk Festival, which was my port of call last weekend, is set in a former whaling town in southern Massacheussetts, which is still very much a working fishing port.

Now in its 17th year, where this festival scores big, like most such events other than those in the UK, is that it’s not afraid to welcome non-English-speaking acts to its stages, which adds a “frisson” to the proceedings due to the cultural crossovers that inevitably ensue.

Thus I found myself sharing workshop stages with French Canadian players like Benoit Bourque and Le Vent du Nord, Europeans like Beppe Gambetta and Livio Guardi, as well as top US performers like Sloane Wainwright, Eliza Gilkinson and John Gorka.

English festivals seem so reluctant to diversify in this way, and in my opinion, audiences are losing out because of it. I’m now heading north to Vermont for the Middlebury Festival, so more from there next week, but in the meantime, don’t forget you can catch Allan Taylor at Washington’s Davy Lamp on Saturday, Barrie and Ingrid Temple at Westoe Club on Sunday and the great American duo Dana and Susan Robinson at Cramlington’s Hind on Tuesday.