SPENCER, Mass. - Each Labor Day weekend, the Spencer Fair draws in thousands of people for four days of competitions, entertainment and more.

For over 130 years, local agriculture has been the main attraction, and while so much has changed, Spencer Agricultural Association President Bob Knight said local farmers are still the heart of this celebration. 

"It's always been an agricultural fair, that's what it started out as, the farmers being able to have the time to meet, get together, show off their crops, their livestock to the other farmers in the area," Knight said. "It was really their only social event that they had throughout the year."

Knight said in previous years, interest had waned, but now farmers are noticing a resurgence. Monica Chicoine of Misty River View Farm said her family has been at the fair sharing their work for over a decade. 

"It's a booming industry, and there's a lot of it around us, but people don't necessarily understand it like they should," Chicoine said. "We do get a lot of questions, I think that's the nice part. People aren't afraid to ask questions and get to understand what a cow is, you know, are they dairy cows? Are they beef cows? What's the purpose they serve?"

And then there's the competitive side of local agriculture. Tom Banyai and his son Costello grew a 118.8 pound pumpkin, which ended up being the winner at Friday's giant pumpkin weigh-off. 

"He grew it on our front lawn, he's been taking care of it and tending it, but he couldn't be here this week so I got the choice job of bringing it over here," Banyai said. "The secret is tender love and care, he was out there every day."

Saturday's events include a tractor pull, a truck pull and a beef cattle show. Sunday's demolition derby is expected to draw the largest crowd of the entire weekend.

A full schedule of events and information on purchasing tickets can be found on the Spencer Fair website.