Carolina Classic Fair
The Carolina Classic Fair, formerly the Dixie Classic Fair, is an annual fair held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The fair takes place every autumn on the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds (formerly known as the Forsyth County Fairgrounds), which is part of the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex; the grounds are located adjacent to the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. 371,219 attended the 2007 Dixie Classic Fair, which was a new attendance record. This attendance record elevated the Dixie Classic Fair to the 50th largest attended Fair in North America; it has been second only to the North  Carolina State Fair in attendance in the state for many years. The fair began in the former town of Salem as a grain exposition in 1882 (2007 was the 125th anniversary). In 1897, the Piedmont Tobacco Fair was started and shortly thereafter the two events merged to form the Winston-Salem Fair. The fair moved to its current fairgrounds in 1952 and changed its name to the "Dixie Classic Fair for Northwest North Carolina" in 1956. Prior to 2019, the event was most commonly known as just the Dixie Classic Fair. Due to controversy surrounding the word "Dixie" in the  fair’s name, the Winston-Salem City Council voted in October 2019 to change the name. There were no fairs in 1917-18, 1942-45 nor 2020.