FRYEBURG — Renewable energy options will be among the top attractions at the 159th Fryeburg Fair, which runs Oct. 4 to 11.

Visitors to Maine’s largest agricultural fair will find more than 4,000 animals, horse pulling, harness racing, four pig scrambles, dozens of exhibition halls and a gigantic midway with more than 50 rides.

Located along Energy Row next to the Natural Resource Center this year will be vendors and companies covering wind power, solar photoelectric panels, wood pellets and systems, outdoor wood and corn furnaces, generator power systems, geothermal power, gasification boilers and energy-efficient solar homes.

Last year’s concentration of renewable energy options along the south side of the center, formerly the Forestry Center that began 20 years ago, proved to be successful.

“There will be a number of different companies displaying energy-efficient ways of heating homes, water and businesses,” said Dean Baker, who has been midway superintendent since 1985. “It was a tremendous success last year and we feel it will be even better this year.”

Also new last year in the same area is a replica fire tower. Thanks to the relocation of utility poles and wires, visitors to the lookout tower will have a clearer view of Kearsarge Mountain in Bartlett, N.H., and its historic tower.

The fair’s major project this year has been the construction of a new 5,000-square-foot employee dining facility that will handle the feeding of hundreds of employees during fair week.

The fair continues its development of social areas through the livestock exhibits and barns to provide information and photographs.

The first one was created a few years ago in the steer and oxen area. Many of the questions fair-goers have about oxen are answered through posters and an educational video that plays when the area isn’t staffed.

Visitors can find social areas in the pony and draft horse barns, but perhaps the largest and most comprehensive social area is History Hall near the front gate.

The large room that is part of Expo I contains a timeline of the 159 years of the fair and photographs of officials and superintendents both past and present.

Camping at the fair continues to be as popular as ever.

“We have as many reservations right now as we did at this time last year,” said first-year Camping Superintendent Gale Bell, who noted the addition of several computers to the camping office. “I expect we’ll be full by fair time.”

Longtime Fair Secretary June Hammond said the continued computerization of the fair has helped immensely with the workload.

“The fair premium book is put together in the spring using a computer program designed just for that,” she said. “Since we started putting the book on our Web site — fryeburgfair.org — we have seen fewer calls. People are able to get the answers to their questions immediately while exhibitors can download the applications they need.

“The fair will renew life membership photos this year for last names A-G,” Hammond said. “The plan is to renew all of them over a three-year period.”

Life memberships are available only to residents of the 22 towns that make up the West Oxford Agricultural Society (16 in Maine and six in New Hampshire). A full listing is available on the Web site.

Visitors to the Fire Tower replica at Fryeburg Fair will now have a clearer view of Kearsarge Mountain in Bartlett, N.H., and the original fire tower. Standing on the tower are, from left, Buildings and Grounds Superintendent David Andrews, Midway Superintendent Dean Baker and President Roy Andrews.