Life of a fair manager

Kent Yelverton

N.C. State Fair manager Kent Yelverton has always had a strong love of agriculture. Growing up on a family farm, Kent has spent many hot summer days working in the fields with his family growing and harvesting a variety of row crops. Although college at N.C. State almost took him in a different direction, graduating with a degree in engineering, the call of agriculture spoke to his heart and brought him back to his roots. Kent started his career at the N.C. Department of Agriculture at a young age, working as a consulting engineer in the markets division. In 2001…

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Advice from the Deep Fried rookies

The N.C. State Fair is full of surprises and hidden gems. When you work at the fair for the first time, like I did in 2019, those things add up quickly. If you’ve visited before, it’s easy to think you know pretty much everything there is to know. If you’ve visited a lot, you learn even more and find even more surprises and gems over the years. I can say I learned a lot by working at the fair and being inside the gates for all eleven days in 2019 (plus a week before opening day too). I wasn’t alone…

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