Emma Hope fondly remembers being a young girl at the Salamanca Market in Hobart, where she and other children would make cubbyhouses out of trestle tables.
The now 40-year-old would go to the market with her mother every Saturday to sell vintage clothing, which is a tradition she still carries on today.
"When it first started it was more of a giant garage sale than a market, but it has evolved a lot over the years", Ms Hope said.
What started as a humble market 50 years ago, has become a Tasmanian icon that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
The man behind the Tasmanian institution was Italian-born alderman John Clement, who dreamed of having an open-air market in Hobart like the ones he used to visit in his home country as a child.
"He [John Clement] would never have imagined the market would become the most visited tourist attraction in Tasmania", Hobart author Bernard Lloyd said.
Several members of the National Council of Women turned the idea into reality and organised Hobart's first-ever market with half a dozen stallholders out the front of 64 Salamanca Place.
One of those women was the grandmother of Hobart's current Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds.
Cr Reynolds said her grandmother Isobel Reynolds always envisioned a market that would be attractive for both locals and tourists.
"The market is about the people, the stallholders, and the remarkable talent in Tasmania, but it's also about how unique Salamanca place is in Australia", Cr Reynolds said.
"They would be so proud to see that it's the most iconic market in Australia and one that has kept its integrity and authenticity over the years".
The Salamanca Market made national headlines on October 22, 1988, when Tasmania Police officers arrested Rodney Croome and other gay rights campaigners for defying a ban on a stall featuring petitions to decriminalise homosexual activity.
"The Salamanca Market was always known as a place where people could exchange ideas but it was really tested that day," Bernard Lloyd said.
Despite the many challenges over the years, Mr Lloyd said there has always been a sense of camaraderie between stallholders.
These days, around 250 stallholders turn up every week to sell their goods whether it's snow, hail or shine.
Single mother-of-two Megan Graham said the stallholders have all become like a family.
Ms Graham started selling second-hand clothing at the markets as a 16-year-old to fund her shopping trips to Sydney or Melbourne.
After several years abroad, Ms Graham came back to Australia and started knitting beanies before eventually expanding her business to make it a full-time job.
But like many tourist attractions and businesses, the pandemic has had an impact on the Salamanca Market and caused the only extended break in the market's history.
"As soon as it reopened months later, it was still bad … one day I only made two sales", Ms Graham said.
"It picked up around September last year and has gotten better and better ever since … I've also seen many of my interstate customers return after the borders reopened."
But the Salamanca Market wouldn't at all be possible during a pandemic without a strong army of volunteers and Hobart City Council workers who dedicate hours of their time every week.
The volunteers also assist with on-site sanitation and with counting patron numbers to ensure the market is a COVID-safe event.
And while COVID-19 may have postponed the Salamanca Market's 50th birthday celebrations this month, the stallholders are hoping for the public's continued support.
