Woolmers was yesterday afternoon unable to confirm the estimate, with a representative only able to say that final figures were going to be ‘‘well up’’ on last year.

Festival chairman Ian Goninon said last week that the festival had become a ‘‘must-see’’ family event and the queue of cars stretching from the estate’s entrance up to two kilometres back towards Longford bore out that claim.

It was the family feel of the festival that attracted Carlos and Cassie Castillo, of West Launceston, who attended with daughter Sofia, 5, and three-month-old Lola.

‘‘This was our first visit to the festival and it’s just beautiful — we have a new baby and were looking for family-friendly activities,’’ Mrs Castillo said.

‘‘It’s such a wonderful thing to have in the state and be able to take advantage of.’’

Sofia summed up her feeling for the festival in three words.

‘‘I loved it,’’ she said.

And if the smiles on the faces of the festival’s thousands of visitors was any indication, Sofia’s words summed up the feelings of everyone there.

Mr Goninon, who was at one of the estate entrances, said  he was overwhelmed by the number of people at the festival.

‘‘We definitely did a good show last year and the weather this year was right for us too,’’ he said.

‘‘All the roses are out and we have more stalls for people this year, as well as a display of beautiful old cars, courtesy of the Jaguar Car Club.’’

The entrance at which Mr Goninon was selling tickets overlooked the single-lane bridge across the South Esk River and the line of cars that disappeared around the corner towards Longford.

‘‘The crowd feels twice as big as last year’s already,’’ he said about 11.15am.

‘‘It’s normal that there’s a queue of cars back over the bridge, but not at this hour of the day.’’

A quick walk up the hill away from the river showed the extent of the event’s popularity as paddocks left and right, where grass had been freshly cut for the festival, had became massive make-shift car parks.