The 2025 NC State Fair starts this Thursday, Oct. 16 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 26. While you plan your midway ride route and drool over the new food offerings, here are some fast facts about nearly 175 years of fall fun at the fairgrounds.
The first NC State Fair was in 1853, and the most-attended day garnered 4,000 fairgoers — compare that to the record attendance of 151,647 on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2010. Psst... use the fair’s attendance records to plan when you’ll visit.
Four sitting US presidents have spoken at the NC State fair: Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, Gerald Ford in 1976, George H. W. Bush in 1992, and Bill Clinton spoke to workers who used the fairgrounds as an emergency staging area to clean up after Hurricane Fran in 1996.
The heaviest pumpkin ever recorded at the fair was 2,206.1 pounds from Chris Rodebaugh of Lewisburg, West Virginia last year. Do this year’s gourds have what it takes?
Want more state fair history? Check out photographer Avery Danziger’s historical photos throughout the years.
