And that’s before gates open. 

The mammoth operation has attracted 2700 stall holders from as far as Queensland, with many camping overnight out the front of the site to make the most of the two-day event.

Swap Meet deputy chair and head of logistics Frank Cotronea said preparation for the 2017 installation had been a much easier task than the previous year when the event was shifted from its former home on the other side of Airport Road. 

“We haven't had to put a lot of the infrastructure in ground which has been good,” Mr Cotronea said.  “For things like dust it's also been a lot better because last year we to dig a lot of things up and the grass didn't grow back in time.” 

Now in the sixth year of Rotary control, in 2016 the weekend managed to generate $90,000 in profits which have since been put back into the community.  The City of Ballarat enjoys an economic boost of $8 million across the weekend as thousands of bargain hunters walk through the gates. 

Among the thousands of early arrivals at the Ballarat West Employment Zone was Bill Jansen, who made the 10-hour trek in his 1941 Ford truck from the coastal New South Wales town of Shoalhaven Heads.  

Mr Jansen was one of many keen stall holders who chose to camp overnight out the front of the Swap Meet site to gain a prime position before the gates open. 

He was on the hunt for parts to a 1946 Ford convertible he is currently rebuilding.

“We don’t mind travelling, we turn it into an adventure,” Mr Jansen said. 

Another Swap Meet regular eagre to get set up was Navarre farmer Geoff Beattie, who had attended 25 of the past 26 events. 

While each year he went with the intention of finding the final missing pieces to his collection of Fordson tractors, he said the social aspect was a draw card.  

“Once I could walk through pretty easy, but now I know too many people and everyone's on for a yarn,” Mr Beattie said.