A Howlin’ Good Time

Fans at Saturday’s NCSU/ECU match-up at Carter-Finley Stadium may have noticed a new promotion the Wolfpack announced in between touchdowns. (Or maybe not, considering the rivalry game was a nailbiter ’til the end.) From GoPack.com:

This year, in celebration of the heritage between the Wolfpack and the North Carolina State Fair, the NC State ticket office is offering a special Football & the Fair package to fans that don’t already have tickets to the Oct. 16 game against Florida State at Carter-Finley Stadium.

For $45, fans will get a ticket to the football game and a ticket to the fair, good for admission to any of this year’s 11-day run (Oct. 16-26). The fair will open its gates at 3 p.m. for the Thursday night game against the Seminoles for fans that would like to tailgate with an ear of roasted corn, funnel cake or a deep-fried candy bar.

Tickets, acquired from an unsold block of tickets that were returned from Florida State, can be purchased from the GoPack.com Ticket Center, using the promotional code “Fair.”

Tim Peeler, a writer for the site, really did his football and fair homework. He reports that this year’s Thursday night game will be the 33rd time two of Raleigh’s favorite fall traditions overlap in 43 years. State has played football at two different fairgrounds locations, including the site we are at today and 1873-1927 fairgrounds site located closer to campus off Hillsborough Street.

While the two events often create some, well, interesting traffic patterns (another reason to use the Park and Ride to the Fair!), I remember my first Wolfpack/Fair double header freshman year against Miami feeling like one giant celebration. Any State (or Seminole!) fans going to take them up on this offer?

UPDATE: We had to include this picture from the NCSU/Clemson 2005 game, thanks to Lisa’s comments on this post. It shows you how close Carter-Finley and the Fair really are…thanks Lisa!