Committee president John Young said sales were slightly down from last year, with about 10,000 tickets sold.

"Ticket sales are slightly down - we hit our peak for the 40^th festival with 11,500 sold," Mr Young said.

"We're back down to about 10,000 now. We'd like to sell a few more but 10,000 will be a very comfortable amount of people this weekend."

Mr Young said about 120 people had been working hard in the two weeks leading up to the 43rd festival to construct the event village.

In addition to that, hundreds more will take on a variety of tasks on the weekend.

"There's about 12,000 hours that goes into the whole event on an annual basis," he said.

"We wouldn't be still going if it wasn't for our very supportive and enthusiastic volunteer base."

Accommodation in the town and further afield has been in high demand, but there are some vacancies remaining.

Big 4 Port Fairy Caravan Park has two cabins available due to cancellations while Gum Tree Caravan Park has one available after a last minute change of heart.

Mr Young said he believed there were a limited number of sites available at Port Fairy Consolidated School's tent city and the showgrounds.

"If someone is interested in coming and they haven't booked accommodation I believe there is still an opportunity to book," he said.

Jemmah Lynch from Hearn's Port Fairy Accommodation said the service had more than 130 holiday rentals, which were in high demand during the festival.

"Port Fairy Folk Festival accommodation is always in high demand with the wealth of bookings from repeat customers and guests who come to the festival year after year," Ms Lynch said. "Some of our guests have stayed in the same property since our agency opened in 1997, which is fantastic."

Ms Hearn said there were a few properties available for the weekend due to last minute cancellations.

Mr Young said excitement was building ahead of the weekend with many festival goers looking forward to performers such as Kasey Chambers and Melanie, who shot to fame after her performance at Woodstock.

"We've also got some very interesting performers coming from Britain, Ireland and North America," he said.

"We've also got Z-Star from London, which is pretty exciting."

The weekend's action will kick off on Friday with the opening ceremony from 6pm on stage one.

There will also be a number of street performers outside the main venue.