page_title: North Carolina State Fair
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: North Carolina State Fair / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Fireworks at the 2009 North Carolina State Fair
context_page_description: The North Carolina State Fair is an annual fair and agricultural exposition held in Raleigh, North Carolina, and organized by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
context_section_description: The North Carolina State Fair was first held by the North Carolina State Agricultural Society at a site east of Raleigh in 1853. The event has been held at three different locations since, finding its current home in 1928. It has been celebrated continuously since 1853, with the exceptions of 1861 to 1869 (during the Civil War and Reconstruction), 1926 to 1927 (when the Agricultural Society disbanded and the state Agriculture Department took over operations), 1942 to 1945 (during World War II) and 2020 (see details below). In the 1870s and 1880s, the mills in Winston-Salem would close so that workers could attend the state fair in Raleigh.
  The fair has been held at its present site on the western edge of Raleigh since 1928. The 344 acre site includes many notable buildings, including Dorton Arena, a 7,500-seat arena constructed with a unique large suspended roof.
  Held for 11 days in mid-October, the fair attracts more than a million people to the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. In 2010, the fair broke an attendance record with 1,091,887.
  Along with Dorton Arena, the North Carolina State Fair Commercial & Education Buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The pair of large rectangular exhibition halls were built in 1928, and are stucco-covered Mediterranean Revival style buildings.  The buildings appear as a single building because of their unified facade and design, but are a large rectangular complex of two buildings, 504 feet in length and 80 feet in depth.  They feature twin, tower-flanked entrances and glazed terra cotta ornamentation.
  On July 29, 2020, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that the 2020 North Carolina State Fair would be cancelled.
caption: Fireworks at the 2009 fair
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