For some of them, it is the beginning of a big weekend. For others, it is the end of a big week.

Glenys Holt and six-year-old daughter Bridgett Waites are unpacking baked goods at Sandy’s Sourdough stall.

The man behind the name, Sandy himself, is still at the bakehouse.

When the market wraps up at 12.30pm on Saturdays, he has just finished a 32-hour straight shift.

“He doesn’t sleep on Fridays,” Ms Holt said.

“He likes to talk to his customers, he’s here every week because he likes to talk to people. And they give him feedback, which helps him to improve his product.”

Sandy’s Sourdough has been at the market since it began, five years ago, and was one of its 25-odd original stallholders.

Today, as the market looks to celebrate its fifth birthday this weekend, it has a stallholder pool of about 70.

Market founders Jenny Edis and Mary Mulvaney are proud of how far the weekly event has come.

“It’s just grown and grown and grown, and it has been so embraced by the community,” Mrs Mulvaney said.

“The biggest surprise is how much it’s become a community hub. People meet there, and they chat and they shop. And it’s just lovely watching people enjoy being there.”

Both Mrs Mulvaney and Ms Edis credit the market’s ongoing success to the people behind it: a core team of dedicated people who, while they may at times have differing opinions, share the same core values for the market.

“It takes a village to make a market,” Ms Edis said.

The ethos behind the market is showcasing wholly Tasmanian produce, and each stallholder must adhere to strict origin and process standards in order to be part of the Harvest team.

“Our aim from the start was for it to be a weekly shopping destination. For people to do their whole weekly shop here,” Ms Edis said.

And they are almost there. From the start, Ms Edis said, they always found it hard to source mushrooms, grains, and chicken.

“Now all that’s left is the elusive chicken,” she said, and hinted that it might be making an appearance at the market soon.

Harvest Launceston operates as a not-for-profit organisation.

There are only three paid employees for the market, and the rest are volunteers, including the committee.

It takes about six volunteers to set up the market, and about 20 in total to run it each week.

On the ground each week is volunteer co-ordinator George Manifold, who has been with the market for three years.

He got involved to give back and contribute to his community.

He’s usually at the Cimitiere Street carpark site by 7am, and by then, some of the early bird stallholders are already well into their set-up process.

“Initially I was surprised when it would all come together every week, but now I expect it,” Mr Manifold said.

“The market is just part of Launceston. It’s been inducted into what we do on a Saturday morning. There’s people, there’s music, there’s food.

“Sometimes you’re able to come for five or 10 minutes and do your shopping, other times you sit about and socialise.”

Ruth Lawry is one of the market’s recognisable regulars.

As she arrives at the market just before 8.30am, with friends and family in tow, Kelvin and Jan Tombleson from Braefield Prime Lamb spot her from across the site.

“There’s Nanna, she is an absolute carnivore,” Mrs Tombleson said, and added that the North-West farm regularly saved some of their more “sizeable” lamb chops to fry up especially for “Nanna”.

Mrs Lawry has been coming to the market about once a month, with daughter Trish, for about four and a half years. Except for when it’s raining.

“I don’t come out in the rain. You don’t go in the rain when you’re 90,” Mrs Lawry said.

Mrs Lawry likes to get to the market early, and settle in with a coffee to watch the final flurries, before the market bell tolls at 8.30am to signal the official start of trading.

“It’s lovely to come, the atmosphere is lovely here,” she said.

The connection that the community has to the market is one of the things its founders are most pleased with.

“The community is really proud of the market, and one of the greatest signals or illustrations to us that we’ve succeeded, is that people call it “their market” and that means that it is a genuine community farmer’s market,” Ms Edis said.

It has also captured the hearts of visitors.

Mrs Mulvaney recalled when internationally renowned Sydney chef Tetsuya Wakuda visited Launceston as part of the Great Chef Series last year.

“He was scheduled to spend five minutes at the market, but he ended up here for two hours – they kept trying to drag him away to his next appointment – but we was just so impressed with it,” she said.

Harvest was launched in conjunction with Festivale, and has continued to enjoy a partnership with the event when it rolls into Launceston each year.

This Saturday, the community is invited to celebrate the milestone, from 8.30am.

On site will be children’s activities, and Festivale guest chefs Simon Bryant, Fiona Hoskin, and Craig Will.

And there will, of course, be cake.