RALEIGH – The 2024 N.C. State Fair finished its run with a strong weekend, pushing the overall attendance to just shy of 1 million visitors. The final attendance was 998,926, the sixth largest in the fair’s 156-year history.
“This was a great fair that was blessed with 11 beautiful days of weather and the attendance reflected that. But seeing people enjoying themselves, laughing with family and friends and making memories together is the true measure of success,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “I want to thank the State Highway Patrol and Raleigh Police Department for handling the traffic throughout the fair, our law enforcement partners who are essential to ensuring a safe fair and especially the public for their continued support.”
Other highlights of the 11 days included:
- Setting a new attendance record for a Tuesday when 85,738 came through the gates for Senior Day.
- Seeing record attendance of nearly 2,400 people for the invitation-only Century Family Farm Reunion, a celebration of farms that have been in continuous family ownership for 100 years or more.
- A total of 254,000 meals, or 17 truckloads of food products, were donated during Smithfield Foods Hunger Relief Day. The food collected this year will go to the MANNA Food Bank in Asheville. MANNA’s warehouse was washed away during flooding from Hurricane Helene. The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, the typical recipient of food items during the one-day food drive, chose to send the food collected to MANNA.
- A strong Junior Livestock Sale of Champions with bidders paying $213,000 for the top beef cattle, turkeys, hogs, sheep and goats, plus the top Got to Be NC winners
- Celebrating 20-year anniversaries for the Tobacco Barn in Heritage Circle and the Field of Dreams exhibit near Dorton Arena.
- Attendance for the Got to Be NC Pavilion was up with the number of participating N.C. food companies and fair visitors.
- Marking the first year for the N.C. Stillhouse, featuring North Carolina distilleries serving craft cocktails.
- Participation by many Western N.C. vendors and crafters, which provided them with sales opportunities during a much-needed time.
- Strong number of competitive entries with 24,514 entries in the general competitions and another 4,067 entries in livestock competitions.
The 2025 N.C. State Fair will be held Oct. 16-26.
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