Last year over the N.C. State Fair’s 11-day run, just short of a million people from across the state and the country visited the fair — that’s a lot of people! Of course, with so many people all gathered together it takes a skilled security team working behind the scenes to help ensure the safety and smooth running of such a big event.
At North Carolina State Fair, look no further than this three man team: Anthony Prignano, State Fair police chief; Kevin Carpenter, Logistics Coordinator; and Chris Riewe, Police Assistant Chief. These three are behind much of the security and coordination that takes place behind the scenes during the fair.
Security at the state fairgrounds is a year-round job, and preparation for the the State Fair begins during the fair the year before. Carpenter shared that they started thinking of ways to improve upon the logistics and security of the upcoming 2025 fair last year during the middle of the 2024 fair.
“The fair is eleven days, but for us it’s more like an eleven day job. The eleven days of the fair, and the twelfth day is every day after that until the next fair,” stated Carpenter. Problem solving is one of the biggest things that has to be tackled each year, but this group is up for the challenge.
There’s a lot of pre-planning and adjustments that go into managing the fairgrounds each year. Riewe shared that a big part of the job is making sure that they have support from the surrounding agencies and coordinate with other members of the State Fair Staff in order to ensure everything runs smoothly.
“We want to ensure we provide a safe environment for families at all times, but we also have to make sure we allow them to have a good time,” Prignano shared. Staying on top of such a monumental task is often time-consuming and has a lot of moving parts but him and his teammates all enjoy their work. The three shared that when an issue pops up they all work together to solve it but once it’s been revolved they enjoy taking the time to relax a little and joke around with each other
Although the three of them are on duty for the entirety of the fair they do take time to take off their “serious hats” and enjoy some of what the fair has to offer.
“By the fourth day I’ve gotta have a soft pretzel,” shared Prignano. Similarly, Carpenter makes sure that every year he gets a Peachy’s Donut before the end of the fair.
The men also wanted to share a key piece of advice for families looking forward to their day at the N.C. State Fair: Keep an eye on your children.
Riewe urges parents to keep a close eye on their kids during their day at the fair as kids may get lost in the crowds. He also recommends that parents take photos of their children at the gate when they first enter the fair. This is both to document the experience as well as to ensure that if their children get lost during the fair staff and police will have a recent photo to reference.
If you have any additional questions, please contact Renee Atkinson at 919-839-4504 or Chief Anthony Prignano at 919-830-4509.