Marton's Harvest Fair grew out of a pumpkin growing competition - and that competition has grown to produce a New Zealand record.
Aaron Akkerman, 16, has been growing giant pumpkins in his family's Turakina garden as a hobby for eight years. This year his effort weighed 732.5kg and broke the New Zealand record. It was so big it had to be put on to Gallagher Group's certified scales with a forklift and taken to the fair on a trailer.
Unless it's beaten by a Morrinsville pumpkin being weighed next week, Aaron will have the year's biggest.
He wasn't at the fair, but contest organiser Andy Corser was standing by to take good care of the pumpkin. He didn't want anyone harming the colossal vegetable, because it still has to get to the Mystery Creek Field Days near Hamilton in June.
There are many photographs of Aaron and the pumpkin in a blog at www.giantpumpkins.co.nz.
There were only two other entries in the pumpkin competition this year. Aaron's dad, Steffen, came second with a 464kg pumpkin, and Tash Gray was a distant third with a 34.6kg fruit.
Giant pumpkins aren't palatable to people. But the pumpkin competition has spawned another contest at the fair - for the tastiest pumpkin pie.
A tableful of pies, cut into little pieces, was a big attraction for the tasting crowd. Jessica Donaldson won that competition.
Next to the pumpkin area was another attraction with local connections - a brewing competition. There were 41 entries this year.
The categories are lager, stout, ale and speciality - which can include anything from a feijoa-flavoured ale to a bourbon.
Judges were Tore Hansen, from Norway, Tiago Cabral originally from Portugal, and Dave Wilson. They were assessing appearance, aroma and flavour.
The prizewinners get materials with which to do yet more brewing.
Former Food Truck chef Michael Van de Elzen gathered a big crowd for his cooking demonstrations and line of patter.
He said he was a Dutchy who grew up on a chicken farm. He spent four years with a food truck, and opened a chicken diner called Boy & Bird in Auckland last year.
He has young children and his cooking focus is now on healthy, simple family meals, and techniques that can be used with a range of ingredients.
Another fairground attraction was the goose herding skills of Keith Berrett's eight-year-old eye dog, Abby.
"She loves to do tricks," he said, and demonstrated by raising a stick for her to jump over.
The fair also had streets of stalls, selling everything from soap to jewellery. There was also steam machinery in action.