FRYEBURG — The 160th Fryeburg Fair kicked off with a huge opening Sunday and ended the same way eight days later, setting a record for the final Sunday that had stood since 2004.

The day’s paid attendance, not counting children under 12, totaled 25,759. The record was 24,566. The week’s total came in at 172,603, or 7,000 more than 2009’s attendance of 165,441.

This year’s daily attendance was, with records in parentheses: opening Sunday, 26,684 (record 29,995 in 2001); Monday, 21,646 (record 26,017 in 2004); Tuesday – seniors free, 13,100 (record 17,014 in 2006); Wednesday – rain, 6,766 (record 20,125 in 2001); Thursday, 13,658 (record 20,483 in 2009); Friday, 28,223 (record 30,396 in 2004); Saturday, 36,767 (record 46,834 in 2000); and closing Sunday, 25,759 (previous record was 24,566 in 2004).

“We had one of our best fairs ever,” President Roy Andrews said. “I talked with a lot of people this year who were attending the fair for the first time and I couldn’t find too many that weren’t enjoying themselves.”

Visitors to the fair come from across the country and around the world. Thirty states were represented, based on what Penny Hathaway has been able to determine from her poll in History Hall. Visitors from China made their presence known there and a girl from South Africa won a pig in one of the week’s four pig scrambles.

“We had the largest number of animals on the grounds that we’ve ever had,” said Andrews, who confirmed that Fryeburg hosts the largest steer and oxen show in the world. This year, 175 pair of pulling oxen and 131 pair of show steers competed for a total of 612 animals. There were nearly 3,400 animals showing throughout the week, not counting race horses.

At a time when the dairy farms are declining, Fryeburg had its largest number ever with 365 head. The milking parlor processed a record number 147 cows twice a day, producing more than 10,000 pounds of milk. Milking begins at 3 a.m. daily and resumes at 3 p.m. The afternoon milking kept the parlor packed with onlookers. The supreme dairy award went to the Ayrshire shown by William Woodis of Lone Birch Farm in North Brookfield, Mass.

Dairy Judge Katherine Knowlton, a professor at Virginia Tech, said the animals she judged were some of the finest she had seen all year. She has judged shows in 19 states but said Fryeburg Fair is her favorite.

Beef Judge Kyle Rozeboom from the University of Minnesota said many of the beef he judged were capable of competing on a national level. Sara Kuykendoll of Wisconsin, who judged the 4-H sheep, said that many of the youngsters here would be able to compete with those in the Midwest.

Dana Webster, chairman of the 4-wheel-drive truck pull, said he thought the Sunday night event attracted the largest number of competitors and the biggest crowd he has ever seen. It was aided by the appearance of the Pelletier Brothers of Millinocket, famous for their “American Loggers” reality TV show on the Discovery Channel.

Rain hurt attendance Wednesday as well as the pari-mutuel handle (total amount bet). The total was $648,809, close to last year’s $650,720. Friday night’s fireworks were postponed to Saturday because of gusting winds.

“We work on the fair year-round,” said Andrews, who noted that several meetings with department heads will be going on this week as well as throughout the fall “while things are still fresh in their minds.” The trustees’ meeting is held in early December followed by the state fair convention in late January and then the spring meeting in April when new projects are approved.

“Before you know it, it will be time to do it all over again,” Andrews said with a wry smile.