FLOODING and Christmas Day are the only things that have stopped the Maryborough Heritage Markets in the last 30 years.
It's celebrating its 30th anniversary on November 30 with a pearl and heritage theme.
Every Thursday colourful stalls and music transform the city centre into a bazaar of treasures.
On rain, hail or shine, the markets were first launched in 1987 by the Maryborough Promotions Bureau in response to the opening of an air-conditioned shopping centre.
Carmel Murdoch, who dresses in period costume to play the character "Mary Heritage" at the markets and fires the cannon with the town crier to signal the end of the markets at 1pm, remembers the time well.
"People left the central business district in droves to go and shop in the one, big shopping centre and people who worked in the CBD were concerned they were going to lose their jobs," she said.
Mrs Murdoch worked in a pharmacy in the CBD when the markets first began and became involved with the "Mary Heritage" character in 1998.
She recalls some funny times, once when the original town crier, the late Reg Layde, was in the throes of doing a cry and his false teeth fell out.
- The market is on every Thursday from 8am to 1.30pm in Adelaide and Ellena Streets, right in the heart of the city centre, featuring weekly entertainment and a great variety of stalls to tempt the market day visitor.
