James - you were asking about pros and cons on the other thread. Well,in my experience:

Pros:

- it's a lot of fun and you usually get to have good chats with other photographers and the general public
- some of the work on display is very good

Cons:

- don't really expect to sell anything and treat it as a happy bonus if you do
- some of the work on display is not very good
- if the weather is crap well ...