North Carolina State Fair

T he North Carolina State Fair hosts a million visitors every October when it runs for 11 days at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Wake County. “The North Carolina State Fair began in 1853,” says General Manager, Kent Yelverton, “but it began on a site east of our current location. We moved to our current Fairgrounds in 1928, and that is also when we became a year-round event facility. We currently produce two events in-house each year: the ‘Got to be NC’ Festival in May and our annual North Carolina State Fair.” The Got to be NC is a three-day event highlighting goods, manufacturers, and the culture of North Carolina, while the State Fair, despite its size, is, at heart, a good old-fashioned, agricultural fair. “On top of that, we also work with over 500 promoters each year who lease our facilities to promote their own events,”