Harvest bounty in Marton on Saturday included beer, food and some magnificent pumpkins.
The Marton Harvest Fair was on in Marton Park from 10am to 3pm. It featured goose herding, a cooking demonstration and a beer brewing competition, organiser Cath Ash said.
Celebrity cook Jax Hamilton showed how to make a meal of jerk chicken, coleslaw and roti bread.
Fifteen-year-old Aaron Akkerman again won the competition for biggest pumpkin, with his 490kg monster. His other two entries were 310kg and 390kg took the second and third prizes.
He was also the winner last year, with a 201kg pumpkin. Ms Ash said his monster fruit this year would have been one of the biggest in New Zealand.
"That was really, really quite spectacular."
Geese can be scarily aggressive, but those herded through obstacles and into pens at the fair were quite biddable.
"It's exactly like sheep herding, and it's the cutest thing to see," Ms Ash said. There were 39 entries in the brewing competition, and some of the beer was "incredibly good". The winner was Marton's Mark Smith and the contest was sponsored by Malteurop, the company which malts barley in Marton.
The weather was fine and there were 81 stalls. Patrons came from as far away as Kapiti, Wanganui and Palmerston North.
Ms Ash, who's also the Project Marton co-ordinator, was thrilled. "Everybody had a fantastic time," she said.