MATTAPOISETT — A welcome breeze blew through Shipyard Park as nearly a hundred vendors set up shop and hundreds of shoppers perused what the artisans had to offer.

For 43 years Harbor Days has filled Shipyard Park, raising money for the Mattapoisett Lions Club, and its 44th year has been no different.

Around 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, Lions Club President Rob Haley estimated that about a thousand people had visited the craft fair so far, with another day and a half to go.

“At 9 o’clock they were already lined up for strawberry shortcake,” he said, which is one of the highlights of the event.

Haley said that Harbor Days is something that “everybody looks forward to,” with events such as Taste of the Town and a fish fry and strawberry shortcake sale as lead ups to the weekend.

“It’s a big craft fair. [People] like to go to the beach, but one weekend a year they love to be a part of this,” he said.

Carolyn Mulvey said she first started selling mosaics during Harbor Days “years ago” and after a brief hiatus, returned three years ago to sell oil paintings.

She said she decided to return because “the people are just wonderful, and they’re in a seascape environment, so they just bond with my work.”

Among her work on display were a painting of Buzzards Bay with Ned’s Point Lighthouse in the background and some paintings of the Mattapoisett Rail Trail.

She added that she loves hearing what people say about her work, since many who stop by live near the ocean.

Mulvey, who is an en plein air painter, which means she paints everything on location, focuses her artwork on New England landscapes, including in Mattapoisett, the Cape and Westport.

“My end result truly is having someone just feel at peace,” she said. “I feel my work represents peacefulness.”

This year, Harbor Days has been “very exciting” for Mulvey, who said that she’s had “so many people really bonding to the work.”

Among the many vendors selling paintings, baby clothes, crocheted pieces, sea glass art and more was Nicole Kovalsky of Fairhaven, who creates cement home decor in a variety of colors and finishes.

Kovalsky’s pieces include soap dishes, trays, vases, plant propagators and seasonal items, such as ghosts for Halloween.

She noted that she likes being part of yearly events because she finds that people often make attending the fairs a tradition to “see some of the same vendors [they] shop from already.”

This is Kovalsky’s second year selling her pieces during Harbor Days, noting that she has “a lot of returning customers.”

“That’s probably one of my favorite things about it,” she said, adding, “I had a lot of great people stop by and buy products, so it was definitely worth it to come back.”

There were also some first-timers at Harbor Days, including Kathy Davey of Randolph, who creates flower bouquets with painted wooden flowers.

Davey, who is a florist of 32 years, explained the flowers are “all wood, all hand-dyed, hand painted and airbrushed.”

“They last forever [and] they’re eco-friendly,” she said.

This is Davey’s first year selling her bouquets during Harbor Days and said that compared to other craft fairs she’s been involved in “there’s more people here than any of the other events I go to.”

She noted that she hadn’t had any expectations with how Harbor Days would go for her, having simply heard that it was a good show.

“It’s good,” she said. “Organized, nice, tons of people. I love it.”

The Lions raise money during the event through vendor fees, selling raffle tickets and t-shirts, serving food and through some advertisements, with all proceeds going toward scholarships, research on eye diseases for kids who have diabetes, as well as helping local families.

Haley noted, “There are a lot of families in the area that don’t have vegetables, winter jackets, mothers that need diapers, formula, and just have needs.”

Though the Lions organize and run the event, it’s something many look forward to every summer, Haley said.

“It’s a thing that we always joke — it’ll happen whether we’re doing it or not,” he said.

And festivities aren’t over just yet.

To close out Harbor Days on Sunday, July 20, there will be a pancake breakfast starting at 8 a.m. and a second day of vendor shopping, listening to live music, entering an auction and raffle and enjoying grilled favorite and strawberry shortcake.