Why DO I do this?

Med-Fair, I mean? In some ways it's a bloody pain: load up several hundred pounds of stuff, some of it messy as hell, cart it to the site & set up, use it for three days(while talking yourself hoarse and getting either sunburned, frozen or drowned), then pack it all up and take it home and unload. Add in sometimes having to dolly all this crap a ways because you either can't drive onto the grounds or can't park close. And there's always the exciting possibility of of some freelance socialist stealing a tool or some piece you sweated over for hours to make.

Biggest reason? I really like showing this stuff to people. I like showing how people took whatever was available and made needed things out of it. I like demonstrating how this is done. I like answering a lot of the questions(excluding things like "Is that real metal? Is that real fire? Can I have that?*) I love it when some grandkid finds out that grandpa used to do this on the farm/ranch, and even has some of the tools back home still; you can see their face light up and "Wow!" go through their mind.

I like it when someone asks how to get started and I can tell them places to go for information and materials. I like it when someone shows up and asks "Can you fix/duplicate this?" and stands there watching while you do it. Pointing out pieces of history that someone's never heard of before, folklore about smiths in different cultures. And, on occasion, using a song they've never heard of(ever heard 'The Two Magicians'? Or 'A Lusty Blacksmith'?) Get to be the first to tell a kid interested in Irish history about Chu'hulainn and where his name came from.

One of the really nice things is to finish some small piece, and one of the merchants comes up and says "Can you make this stake/hanger/hook/support for me?" You get a description, figure out size, then pick out a piece of stock and make it, then deliver it or have them pick it up. And the folks watching get to see it all, just like a smith at a fair or town shop way back when.

Yeah, it can be a pain in the ass. But it does have compensations.