Dunedin City Council events team leader Marilyn Anderson said she had hoped the old farmer's adage "rain at 7am gone at 11am" would prove true.
However, after a brief respite, showers caused shoppers and stallholders to seek shelter together under verandas.
"The event has been very canny with the weather up until now," Ms Anderson said of the event, which was in its 26th year.
Despite some stallholders leaving early, those who remained reported good sales as "the punters kept coming", she said.
Passengers from the cruise ship Diamond Princess helped keep crowd numbers steady, although the total turnout appeared to be down on last year, Ms Anderson said.
One couple seemingly unaffected by the rain was Jasper Wouda (29) and Femke Reudler Talsma (27), from Amsterdam, who were wearing for the first time the $4 rain-jackets they bought in Australia.
"People are asking us where we bought them," Mr Wouda said.
Adrienne Welsh, of Christchurch-based Airbrush Tattoos, began packing up her stall at 11am as the rain was forcing the ink on the temporary tattoos to run.
One stallholder unaffected by the weather was Steven Perry, of Mosgiel, who reported strong sales of his wooden wind spirals.
