I trundled out to the NC State Fairgrounds from the center of Raleigh, not really knowing what to expect. I knew there was a flea market there every Saturday, and that there was a special event being held in another area that featured Indian (of SE Asia) food and dance. I knew that the Fair Grounds had been used for a long time, and that there was a building you can see from Hillsborough Street (original Route 1) that looked like something from a Jetsons cartoon.
I love Indian food, and I enjoy poking around at flea markets, and I was curious to learn more about an institution that had been around for 170+ years, so I thought it would be worthwhile checking it out on a nice Saturday afternoon in the Spring.
History of the Fair
The Fair grew up before the Civil War as a four day long agricultural exhibition in the Autumn to showcase NC farmers and their livestock. There were horse races, political speeches and marching bands on parade, too. It was a spectacular concept to share ideas and to provide agricultural education for several days of the year in a State where most farmers lived in relative isolation the rest of the time. The Fair was interrupted by the Civil War and reconstruction and it paused again in 1926 due to lack of operating funds, and again during WWII and during the COVID-19 epidemic. In conjunction with some of the interruptions, the Fairgrounds moved twice, finally settling at its current spot in 1928, two years after the establishment of Route 1.
Carnival rides were on the grounds by the 1890s, and prepared food first showed up in 1900 as a way to raise funds for churches and social groups. Over time the event grew larger, the grounds expanded, and more and more days were tacked on. By 2008 the Fair had become an 11 day event. The agricultural character of the Fair remained, despite the expansion of hoopla surrounding its original purpose. By 2010, Fair attendance exceeded 1 million…