'Best Friday night in years': Festivale opens with a bang

The three-day festival of food, beer, wine, spirits and live music launched on Friday with a sold-out night of dancing and good vibes.

"The feedback that we were receiving from people was that it was one of the best Friday nights from the event that they could remember," said David Dunn, Festivale's chairman.

"That was a great start and I know that the stallholders have also been extremely impressed too.

"It was just incredible how people partied the night away; it just had a really good vibe about the whole evening.

"And it's only going to get better; this is set to be another bumper year."

Roughly 10,000 tickets had been sold for the Saturday of the event, meaning numbers had risen to pre-COVID levels once more.

Mr Dunn said the attendance numbers could be attributed to drawcards like performers Rogue Traders and Vanessa Amorosi who headlined for Saturday's stellar lineup.

But punters weren't just spoilt for choice musically, they had the vendors too - around 70 stalls scattered around the park with plenty of new faces and old favourites.

"We've seen some of these new stallholders do a fantastic job this year, particularly groups like Lawrenny Estate Distillery with their gin and Graze Tasmania," Mr Dunn said.

"They've made for a really great picnic day out for plenty of our patrons but we also have old-time favourites like Loose Goose and Pavlovers who have reflected the summer weather we've had.

"A couple of them are made some last minute changes to their menus really bring some lighter dishes in. It's fantastic."

The final day of the festival will host entertainment from the likes of The Beautiful Girls, Diesel and former MasterChef judge Matt Moran, who returns as guest chef for the 2024 event with other Tasmanian chefs on show in the 'chefs in action' marquee.

And Sunday will also act as a "kids day" for the festival with children's entertainment and activities dotted around the park including buskers and book signings.

"We're so excited for what's coming up and I think all of our patrons are too," Mr Dunn said.