The North Carolina State Fair, one of the largest events to occur in the state and expected to bring in over one million guests, has been delayed as Hurricane Michael is expected to affect Raleigh Thursday.
The North Carolina State Fair was supposed to open Thursday at 3 p.m., but the opening has been postponed until 10 a.m. Friday morning. The fair is then expected to continue as planned.
Since 1853, the fair has gotten more popular, becoming one of the largest annual events in the nation. Almost two dozen new foods will be available for fair guests including the arepa burger, rolled ice cream and chocolate chip hush puppies.
“We have 22 new foods coming to the fair on top of our 200 regular vendors as well,” said Heather Overton, assistant director at the NC State Fair Office. “We also have four new rides and 100 in total.”
Overton said some of the newest food vendors that will be available to the public are the shrimp tacos with pineapple salsa from Captain Neill’s Seafood and cinnamon toast crunch apple cobbler bites from Chef’s D’Lites.
Howling Cow ice cream, completely produced at NC State from its food science program, is also sold by NC State students at the fair. Gary Cartwright, director for NC State Dairy Enterprise System, said the ice cream has been sold at the fair since 1978.
“At the 1978 state fair, many attendees had walked up to our window asking if we were selling our ice cream, but at the time we were not allowed to sell it concerning the Umstead Act,” Cartwright said. “After many requests, I went back to the food science department to get permission from the dairy companies involved to begin selling our product.”
Howling Cow will be providing its regular flavors, but will also be bringing a new flavor of key lime pie.
“We calculated, one year, the amount of ice cream students sold,” Cartwright said, “and it came out to be one cup and one cone passed out every 12 seconds from start to finish of one day at the fair.”
The first Friday of the fair is “Friday Frenzy,” where college students can get a discounted admissions ticket when they present their student ID at the ticket booth.
“We’re offering a new ticket package online for advanced purchase that I think high school and college students will benefit from the most, called the Dizzy Pass,” Overton said. “For $31, you get a wristband for admission into the fair and unlimited rides.”
NC State also participates in the agricultural aspects put on for the public, including the milking booth and livestock exhibits.
“NC State is involved in several aspects, especially in the agricultural exhibits and livestock areas,” Overton said.
Another big attraction the fair brings are the amusement park rides that are available. There are four new rides this year, including Downdraft, the Kraken, Dumbo Elephants and the Mini Trooper.
“The rides never disappoint,” said Madison Young, a second-year studying microbiology. “But, I can’t deny that the Dippin’ Dots will always be what I look forward to the most.”
There will also be 120 different musical performances to choose from as a part of the Homegrown Music Festival on three different stages.
The fair is still planning to run through Oct. 21. Students can find tickets and prices on the North Carolina State Fair website.
Thousands of fairgoers move through the midway on Oct. 19, 2017. Over 1 million people attended the 2017 NC State Fair held from Oct. 12-22, 2017 with Saturday, Oct. 21 seeing the largest number of attendees at 148,424. The fair offered a plethora of different fried foods to enjoy, games to play and rides to experience, as well as musical performances, agricultural exhibits and livestock shows.
