PITTSFIELD, Mass. - The Baby Animals Festival is now underway at Hancock Shaker Village.

This year marks the 21st Baby Animals Festival and the 63rd year for Hancock Shaker Village. Their farm and facilities director, Bill "Farmer Billy" Mangiardi, discussed the event he's been a part of for almost two decades.

“They’re about 2 weeks old, a set of twins,” Mangiardi said, holding a pair of baby goats.

He said as baby animals grow at the village, so does the festival to celebrate them.

“I've been here for 19 of the 21 years. It started out very small, took on a life of its own," Mangiardi said. "We turned the whole building into a big nursery. We have lambs, goats, calves, just about every farm animal that you could imagine here, including donkeys.”

Hancock Shaker Village is also hosting daily activities, educational talks and tours of their grounds.

As the animals in the historic Round Stone Barn, Dairy Ell and barnyard highlight the start of the season, Mangiardi said it’s about providing an up-close and hands-on experience.

“This is one of the only places that they can get in the pens, interact, and then we don't let them pick them up and everything," Mangiardi said, walking through the Round Stone Barn. "If I let everybody pick them up by the end of the season, the animals would be a little beat up. But what we do is they come in, they can feel them, they can touch them, they can see how the animals are cared for.”

The Baby Animals Festival began April 15 and runs daily until Sunday, May 7. Mangiardi said more than 2,000 visitors came for the opening weekend and they’re expecting thousands more.

“I love animals and I love kids, but at the end of this event, I really don't want to see either one for a while," Mangiardi joked. "One of the best parts is just seeing the joy that the parents and the kids see when they're interacting with these animals. A place like this, it's good; very, very good for the community.”