Tasmanian Craft Fair welcomes pre-COVID crowd numbers back to Deloraine

Nearly 250 Tasmanian and mainland exhibitors made the pilgrimage to Deloraine for the 42^nd instalment of the fair on Friday, where a predicted 15,000 people will pass through.

Tasmanian Craft Fair director Michael Plunkett said numbers were returning to pre-COVID levels.

"Our stallholders bounce around the 240 to 260 mark; after COVID a number of our long-term exhibitors decided to retire and leave their industries," Mr Plunkett said.

"About three quarters of them are locals and Tasmanian, then the other 25 to 30 per cent come from interstate."

He said the annual fair played an important role in the Tasmanian craft and makers community.

"We have a lot of people come up from Salamanca Markets for the craft fair, it's an opportunity for them to display their wares in the North of the state," he said.

"We've worked out conservatively at something like two and a half to $3 million worth of economic activity goes into into the state of Tasmania as a result of the craft fair."

Mr Plunkett said he gets "a real buzz" out of the fair's hands-on aspect.

"I was looking at a young kid who was five or six years old and he was actually on the potter's wheel, getting his hands dirty having a play at trying to do a pot.

"People come here do their Christmas shopping as well."

He said the majority of stallholders did well at the craft fair.

"In terms of their businesses it creates an opportunity to generate a big chunk of their income for the year," he said.

"We're very careful with who we have at the craft fair to make sure we've got high quality products on sale ... everything's handmade or locally made."

The Tasmanian Craft Fair opened Friday and runs until Monday, November 6 at multiple venues across Deloraine.