Following is a guest post from Marisa Linton. Marisa grew up showing and raising livestock, and currently lives on her family’s small farm in Mount Olive. She has shown animals at the N.C. State Fair for the past 14 years and is a past youth livestock scholarship recipient. She is an N.C. State University graduate, … Read more
For as long as most people can remember, the Village of Yesteryear has been housed in the circular building with the white roof adjacent to Heritage Circle. It’s within the walls of the Holshouser Building that you not only observe working artists demonstrating heritage crafts, but purchase the art for yourself. For all 65 years, the … Read more
A musical legend will close out the Homegrown Music Fest at the N.C. State Fair this Sunday night. Maceo Parker is a saxophonist whose music is described as 2 percent jazz and 98 percent “funky stuff.” And, longtime James Brown fans might remember Parker being called out in Brown’s songs with “Maceo, blow your horn.” For … Read more
Growing your own mushrooms can all start with a roll of toilet paper. For the first year, the N.C. State Fair’s Horticulture Department featured a mushroom competition and April Blazich, the department’s superintendent, said she hopes the new competition and mushroom display in the Exposition Center will encourage fairgoers to try something different – producing … Read more
Rhylee Pope of Clinton has a lot to brag about. The 11-year old placed first in the commercial sweet potato display competition, earned $180 and a blue ribbon for her perfect sweet potatoes. Rhylee’s sweet potatoes were chosen first from 18 other entries. The judges chose her display based on the cleanliness and neatness of … Read more
It’s been a sister act for the specialty cooking competitions at the N.C. State Fair. Not one, but two competitions had sisters place in the top three. On Monday, Oct. 17, sisters Mary Fuentes, 16, and Maggie, 11, placed first and second in the N.C. Apple Growers Association Apple Recipe Contest. Older sister Mary won … Read more
Fair mascot Casey Cardinal is back and he’s got lots of tips for fairgoers. Read below to find a few unique N.C. State Fair traditions that makes the fair live up to Nothing Could Be Finer. It’s true, just about every state has a state fair. And these fairs have rides and foods and a … Read more
When it comes to maximizing your N.C. State Fair experience, look no further than our State Fair Scavenger Hunts. This morning Wildflower and I took on both of this year’s scavenger activities – one being a general hunt and the other a STEM-based excursion – and discovered that the thrill of the hunt is truly … Read more
I just got tricked into learning while doing all of my favorite things at the fair! The N.C. State Fair Scavenger Hunts guide kids (and eager interns) as they scour the fairgrounds for clues. With every question they answer, kids learn more about North Carolina’s history and agriculture. You can join in on the scavenger hunt fun by … Read more
The N.C. State Fair’s newest building is actually quite old. The new blacksmith shop, a replacement for the one that sat in Heritage Circle since the late 1980s, was built with wood from two barns, each more than a century old. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler donated the barns, which he bought from a family in Guilford County five years ago. “I … Read more