The wait is almost over. Advance tickets for the 2012 N.C. State Fair go on sale Aug. 1 at 10 a.m. Buying early is the best way to save if you want to stretch your dollar as far as you can on admission, concerts, grandstand events, rides and more. And, if you’re looking for a front-row seat to one of the Dorton Arena concerts, you’re definitely going to want to be in front of a computer when tickets go on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m.
We want your ticket-buying experience to be as smooth as possible, so here are some tips to have a stress-free experience:
- BE PATIENT! Things may run a little slow, but your order won’t time-out.
- Go to the State Fair’s website a few minutes before 10 a.m. Go to the Concerts in Dorton Arena page to buy tickets for a specific artist. When it gets close to 10 a.m., start refreshing your browser.
You’ll see “Buy Now” buttons when it’s time to go on sale. Note: It doesn’t matter what time it is on your computer. The tickets go on sale when the Etix server says it is 10 a.m., so it may be a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later than 10, based on your computer clock. But keep in mind that if you refresh too often, your computer may cache the page and not actually refresh. Check your browser settings to clear the cache if you don’t see the “Buy Now” buttons.
- You’ll want to choose your concert tickets FIRST. Then go back and buy your admission and ride books. (Admission is NOT included in the price of concert tickets.) And don’t forget about the Early Bird Special: if you buy at least $40 in purchases before convenience fees, you’ll earn a free admission ticket. (More information on the Early Bird Special program here.)
- If you are purchasing tickets for the Varsity Vocal Showcase, remember to identify which school you want to support with your ticket purchase. Select “DUKE” at checkout if you are buying a ticket to support Rhythm & Blue. Select “NCSU” if you want to support Grains of Time or Ladies in Red. Select “UNC” if you want to support The UNC Loreleis or UNC Clef Hangers.
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If you aren’t happy with the seat selection, you can try to check back a little later as better seats MAY be released. This is because a seat selection is held for at least 5 minutes. If a purchase isn’t completed, or if a credit card transaction is not approved, those seats will be re-released into the general pool of tickets available for purchase. WARNING: You are not guaranteed better seats if you wait because it depends on whether or not people go through with their transactions or not, so try this tactic at your own risk!
- Have your credit card ready- we can only accept MasterCard and Visa. Don’t type spaces or dashes as part of your credit card number. Also, you’ll need to know your credit card’s security code, so go ahead and identify that ahead of time.
- There is no limit on the number of concert tickets you can purchase, except for the Scott McCreery concert. You will only be able to purchase six tickets for the Scotty show. If you are buying more than 99 concert tickets for any other show, please contact us directly.
- Lastly, everything is processed through our great ticket partner, Etix. So if you have problems, they are going to need to help you out. Here’s a link to their support page.
