The Ballarat Swap Meet is back from February 25, setting up the equivalent of a small city for three and a bit days near the airport.
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"There's two in America, one in the UK, then us - we're the fourth biggest in the world, and the biggest in Australia, people know to come here," committee chair Lindsay Florence said proudly.
There are a lot of stats - 16.8 kilometres of aisles, 10,000 browsers, $2 million for the Ballarat economy, 2744 sites sold so far - but the attraction is the sheer amount of stuff available.
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Classic car enthusiasts know there's plenty of bits and pieces on offer for restorations, or even whole trades, while this year there'll be more antique dealers and auction houses as well, a growing sector.
That's on top of the regular bric-a-brac and collectibles that'll be there as well.
The rush starts early, Mr Florence said, with lines of cars waiting patiently for gates to open.
"We had two blokes here who brought two cars from Adelaide, sold them in the queue, and then went home before the gates opened," he said with a laugh.
"One year there were three jet engines, there's a huge motorbike section, dolls, all sorts."
This is the major annual fundraiser for Ballarat's Rotary Clubs, with seven clubs participating.
All revenue from the event goes towards projects big and small across the city, Mr Florence said.
"We all reserve time and energy and put in a commitment to volunteer for the event," he said.
"We think it's a great community event for Ballarat with an enormous benefit."
The event had to cancel in 2021, citing the pandemic - this year's return will be "COVID-smart', following all current rules, including the need for all patrons to be double-vaccinated.
The Swap Meet is something of a social event as well, site liaison Clare Bennett added, with many stallholders getting to know their neighbours over the years.
"They'll be seeing people they haven't seen in two years, people congregate here from around Australia," she said.
This will be the last year at the current airport site, but Mr Florence said it'll "definitely" be going ahead next year, in the same format, with the same layout.
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"We're in negotiations with council and private developers, this is our last year on this site, but we'll be holding the event next year," he said.
Stallholders can arrive from February 24, with the carpark opening at 6am on February 25 and February 26 before gates open at 7am.
More information, including applications for stallholders and maps, is available online.
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