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Hamfests have certainly declined in the ~30 years that I have been going to them.
The computer junk, car audio, and plain old consumer electronics garbage far outnumbers (and outsells!) the ham radio and test equipment that was once the mainstay of these events. Vintage ham gear went from being "boatanchors" that were priced by the pound to "rare" collectibles going for top dollar on eBay. The decline in US manufacturing and research caused the surplus test equipment pipeline to dry up or become so special-purpose and exotic that the average hobbyist has no need for it. And the audiophools sucked up all the good NOS tubes, and raped the remaining vintage test gear for the transformers and tubes.
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