“My now-husband and I and our various roommates used to work the Texas RenFest back in the late 1980s.”
It was in those years the “mentally deranged” young man was sent to me for evaluation.
You camped out, you dressed up, you played a part ... good times. I understand there was drug use and debauchery, but I was very naive and didn’t notice, and my roommate was a Chinese pre-law student and very strait-laced.
We still do it, camp out and dress up, only now we wear Scout leader uniforms. (I’d rather camp in a dress - much less constricting - but one does what one must.)