Nerds summoned to library for Sandemonium

SANDPOINT — On Saturday, Sandpoint Library was overtaken by boards, bards, and battle for Sandemonium — a convention uniting nerds across the Panhandle. 

The usually quiet community area of the library buzzed as costumed attendees took part in a world building workshop, miniature figure painting, and gaming contests during the six-hour event. 

Steve Hammond, board member of the nonprofit behind Sandemonium, shed light on the goals of the gathering. 

“It’s a chance for people to get together, be themselves, let their guard down, and not have to not talk about D&D,” he said with a laugh. 

Sandemonium emerged as a small event at the library in 2015 before outgrowing the venue and moving to Forrest M. Bird Charter School. 

The convention migrated online during the COVID-19 pandemic before returning to the library in 2022. 

“We're hoping to build and fund for it to once again be a full-fledged convention,” said Bronwyn Toth, Sandemonium board president. 

While gamers went head-to-head in Super Smash Bros., a competitive fighting video game, participants outside were engaged in a different kind of brawl. 

Members of the Barony of Wealdsmere, a branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism, demonstrated the medieval battle techniques of rapier fencing and heavy fighting. 

The Spokane-based group made the trip to Sandpoint to share their passion for combat, history, and pre-17th-century culture. 

“We do more than just fighting,” said Rebecca Hilton, who goes by the pseudonym Bricca Di Bardiccio. “We explore pretty much any activity that they did in the Middle Ages.” 

According to Hilton, SCA groups practice “experimental archaeology” by engaging in blacksmithing, soap making, garment weaving, and other traditional activities to gain a better understanding of how people in the past lived.

“It’s a lot of history nerds who just want to explore history,” Hilton said. “It's fantastic to know where you came from.” 

Hilton was raised participating in SCA events and credits the organization with providing camaraderie and instilling valuable skills. 

“It was just a great sense of community to grow up in,” explained Hilton. “It's a great thing to get your kids out doing something that doesn't involve video games or screen time.” 

While the interests represented at Sandemonium were diverse, attendees were united by a common factor: their appreciation of niche and sometimes stigmatized activities.

“The nerdy crowd is just generally very inclusive,” said Hammond. “It's a good bunch.” 

In-person conventions and communities for niche interests are often confined to big cities; outside online spaces, rural or semi-rural nerds can find themselves isolated. 

“Being able to put something like this on that is close, accessible, and free is a real delight,” said Hammond. 

“They're individually passionate about this stuff, but they come together and create things together,” Toth added of the attendees. “It's a very cool thing.” 

    Attendees prepare to play Pathfinder, a tabletop fantasy role-playing game, in a common room at the library.