STERLING, Mass. — Since returning from a several-decade hiatus in 1981, the Sterling Fair has grown to become one of Central Massachusetts’ signature late-summer events. On Sunday, organizers marked the end of this year’s festivities.

Doug Downey, chairman of the Sterling Fair Committee, said nice weather throughout most of the weekend provided a big boost in attendance.

“We started at the school and had maybe 1,000 people come, right now, we’re looking at almost 40,000 people,” Downey said. “It’s just a great community offering, it’s what Sterling is all about.”

Terry Heinold, chairman emeritus, helped organize the event for 35 years before passing the torch to Downey five years ago. He said it used to be a difficult chore convincing people to come to the fair, but nowadays, managing the large crowd is the only challenge when it comes to attendees.

“Our first budget in 1981, we spent 20 times that budget just on our tents this year,” Heinold said. “So that’s how much bigger we are now than what we started with.”

The Sterling Fair has a rich history dating back to the early 1800s, but by the late 1950s, there weren’t enough volunteers to keep it going.

Now, Downey believes the fair’s success is in large part due to the volunteers who set aside time every year to help things go smoothly.

“It’s 100% volunteer effort, and they come out and help us have one of our biggest years this year,” Downey said. “There’s still free admission, free parking, it’s a great community event and people just love it.”

The Sterling Fair’s current site at the Sterling Airport, which has ample space to accommodate thousands of guests, was made possible by the Simpson and Ciborowski families, who agreed to let the fair use their land.

Sunday’s events to close out the fair included a tractor pull, a horse show, an auction and dozens of different vendors and exhibits.