‘The fair is on,’ NC officials say. But what about masks and other safety protocols?
In 55 days, the North Carolina State Fair will open its Raleigh gates again, one year after pandemic fears led to the fair’s cancellation for the first time in decades.
The 11-day show runs from Oct. 14 through Oct. 24, and contracts are already in place. Though organizers also are scrambling to finish plans for crowds that can swell higher than 1 million people.
“We are on,” said Kent Yelverton, fair manager. “We are planning. We are burning the midnight oil.”
The West Raleigh fairgrounds expects the unvaccinated to wear masks for events going on now. But the fair is too far off to form a mask policy yet, officials say. Raleigh has put a mask mandate into place, but it does not apply to state buildings.
“We simply can’t speculate at this point,” Yelverton said. “So many variables, so many ways this can go.”
The fair drew million-plus crowds for three straight years before falling in 2018 and 2019, dropping back to roughly 938,000.
Last year, NC Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler cited a survey of past fairgoers, 65% of whom said they would be reluctant to attend during the pandemic.
Fair officials have not yet released new foods or attractions, but they have announced a list of new competitions, which include rubber chicken flinging.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 2:58 PM.