More than 1700 stalls filled with car parts, memorabilia, antiques and bric-a-brac will fill the Prince of Wales Showgrounds this weekend.
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Organisers of the Bendigo National Swap Meet are expecting 15,000 to file through the stalls looking for a bargain.
Swap meet chairman Ashley Gray said everything was highly organised on Friday despite the rain threatening.
“The rain put us back an hour or two but the farmers needed it so we can't complain,” he said.
“Stallholders will be set up by Saturday morning. It’s all very organised, we work on it for 12 months.
“As stall holders left last year we were taking bookings for this year. Two thirds of the sites are booked from year to year. Some people have been coming 30 or 40 years.
“It can’t grow any bigger and we're starting to modernise it a bit. We couldn't run it with a pad and paper like they used to, we need the computers.”
On Friday, Rotary clubs were busy preparing for hungry crowds.
More than 800 loaves of bread and 350 kilograms of bacon were on hand.
“We also have 300kg of sausages, 3000 burgers and will sell about 50 dozen pies and pasties,” Rotary member Ian Doake said.
“There will be about 2000 man hours from volunteers over the weekend. It is six rotary clubs and four organisations working together.”
Mr Gray said the thousands strong crowd along with visiting stallholders was an economic boost for the region.
“It’s a real economic boom for businesses locally. Everyone benefits from it,” he said.
Car parts seem to be the most popular item chased by bargain hunters.
“As you walk around, you find people are looking for Holden parts the most,” Mr Gray said.
“They are usually doing up HQs, HZs or Toranas.
“You'd reckon some of the items are a pile of junk but some pieces here are really valuable.”
The Bendigo National Swap Meet is owned by the Federation of Veteran Vintage and Classic Vehicle Clubs of Victoria and managed by the Veteran Vintage Classic Car Club of Bendigo.
The swap meets runs until Sunday.