Weekend Update: June 24-26

Discover the Dinosaurs in the Expo Center

Visitors to the State Fairgrounds can travel back to prehistoric times via the Discover the Dinosaurs exhibit on Friday from noon to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Graham Building. This event will feature a life-like interactive dinosaur exhibit as well as a Dino Dig, face painting and Dino Mini-Golf. To purchase tickets, visit www.discoverthedinosaurs.com. Other events this weekend include: The Raleigh Money Expo is Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Exposition Center. Admission…

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Flea Market re-opens on Saturday

The 2009 State Fair has ended, but that doesn’t mean the fairgrounds shuts down until next October. In fact, as soon as the gates were closed on the last night of Fair, we all took a deep breath and started to reorganize and prepare for the many upcoming events. Throughout the year, the State Fairgrounds hosts everything from coin shows to a roller derbys, but there is one event that happens nearly every weekend — the Raleigh Flea Market. On Saturday, Nov. 7, at 9 a.m., flea market vendors will re-open their shops, where you can buy swing sets, salsa and so much more. There are food…

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Yeah we’re movin’ on up…

George and Weesie may have moved on up, but we are movin’ on out…to the fairgrounds, that is. For most of the year, we work downtown at the Ag Department Press Office, beside the N.C. History and Science museums. But for about two and a half magical weeks, we move our entire office out to the fairgrounds to start preparing for Fair events and helping the media find stories. Today is moving day, and we are busy boxing up press kits, media badges, laptop computers, phones, folders, fax machines, printers. . .and the list goes on. And there’s only five…

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Walk-up ticket locations open today through Oct. 15

View N.C. State Fair walk-up ticket sales locations in a larger map Walk-up ticket sales locations open today, with eight places in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Wilson and Burlington now selling admission tickets and ride sheets: Triangle Town Center in Raleigh State Farmers Market in Raleigh Gate 9 at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh N.C. Museum of History in downtown Raleigh University Mall in Chapel Hill Northgate Mall in Durham Burlington Square Mall in Burlington Wilson Mall in Wilson All locations accept cash, Visa and Mastercard, and will be open through Thursday, Oct. 15. Each location has its own business…

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Behind the scenes with…Dudley Baggett, landscape manager

Now that the final events have taken place at the State Fairgrounds, things are going to kick into high gear to get everything ready for opening day. One area of preparation – landscaping – has been in high gear for a while now. These guys are headed up by Dudley Baggett, the State Fair’s landscape manager. Dudley has a long checklist of items that have to be done before the Fair opens in 15 days, including everything from weeding and mulching about 3 acres of landscaping beds to mowing about 30 acres of grass around the property. Not to mention…

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Artist Spotlight: North Carolina’s Jason Michael Carroll

For our first Artist Spotlight for the 2009 Dorton Arena concert lineup, we went straight to the source and asked North Carolina country singer Jason Michael Carroll to tell you himself why he’s excited to kick off the Fair Thursday, Oct. 15. Note: If video doesn’t appear, try refreshing your browser. I remember the first time I heard about Jason here in the Triangle. I was a senior at N.C. State, and was in an elective music business class offered by two guys who run a music management company in North Carolina. The pair of them had actually helped the…

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Behind the scenes with…Mike Pleasant, concert manager (Part 2)

Three weeks ago, we introduced you to Mike Pleasant, who books and manages all of the Dorton Arena concert entertainers before and during the Fair. Mike told us about some of his favorite performers over the years (Clay Aiken, Brad Paisley, MercyMe, Chris Daughtry and ’09 returning artist Kellie Pickler all made the cut) right before we announced this year’s lineup here on the Deep Fried Blog. (Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday, August 3.) This week, we’re back with part two of Mike’s interview, and this one is juicy. Mike took me on a tour of the…

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