The South Milwaukee ARC Swapfest was this past Saturday. It started at 6;30 AM. It was supposed to go till 3:30 PM. I got there at 1 PM and everyone had either left, or was packing up. What is the deal with fests starting at 6:30 in the morning. No one else does that. Craft Fairs, Gun Shows, you name it, NO ONE starts that early. Which insomniac hams decide to start things this early? It is absolutely insane! And this is "normal" for any Ham related events in this area.
Usually such an early time is for the sellers and vendors to setup their tables and displays, and the public attendance starts later, say 8 am. Around here, the big prize drawings tend to be at noon or 1 pm, and once that's over people start leaving, except for classes and licensing exams that might go later.
It's the tyranny of the morning people, the same bozos that start high school at 7am, despite common sense about teenagers and sleep...
If it was in Arizona, in the summer, I would say it would be due to the fact that it would only be 92 degrees then, compared to 110 at noon.
Strange behavior indeed. The last time (years ago) that I bought a table at an hamfest, I was mobbed at the door by all the early birds. Mind you, this was on the Friday evening prior to the Saturday opening. Most of my "good stuff" was gone ten minutes after I went in the door. I spent most of the hamfest sitting at my table with my fellow ham watching the folks walk by our table. I did walk thru myself, but my aim in getting a table was to get rid of stuff, not pick up new stuff. Some of the stuff never did sell and it's all still in the basement collecting dust...
It gets hot early in the summer. Also it allows for getting both lunch and afternoon nap time in. Afternoon naps are the best...
It doesn't get that hot here. And if you sleep until a decent hour, you don't need a nap. I am retired now, but for a while where I worked, if we volunteered for overtime on Saturdays, (extra money), the guys all liked to start 2 hours earlier than normal (5 AM instead of 7 AM) so they could get out 2 hours early and still have some time left for Saturday activities. Well this meant I would have to get up at 4 AM to get there on time. Then when I got home I felt dragged out and tired. So I would take a nap. Which meant I was no further ahead, but I had to drag myself out of bed 2 hours early. It made no sense. So I just worked the normal hours. I still think it's crazy the way the swapfests start so early around here. The lady at the gate who collected the money, told me some guy showed up at 4:30 AM, and wanted to know if they were open yet.
Thank God I am retired! For years, I got up at 5:15 AM to get to work at 6:45, which was not fun, but I got used to it. Now the cat wakes me up about 6:30 AM, and no way in heck am I going to get anywhere before 9 AM, a somewhat reasonable hour. For a while years ago, I worked the second shift which was 2:45 PM until 10:45 PM. I always felt the best during those hours and was the most productive. A great shift, except you don't get to do much with family.
I'll grant you that 6am is a rather early start time for the general public. However, it is what it is. Perhaps jumping your coffee's octane up a level or two might help.
Why do Ham Fests start at 6:30 AM? BECAUSE THE MANAGEMENT OWNS THE COFFEE CONCESSION. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-money-coffee-concessions-67047.html