It was amazing for u and even better if you bring your friends.But it was 20$ to park half a mile away and on the way back u have to walk 1 mile. And was vary expensive.But over all great time 4stars read more

BEWARE going to the Fairgrounds if there is a "ballgame" in the area and you'd ever like to leave. They lock all of exit gates (except one) and you may be trapped trying to get out for A COUPLE OF HOURS. They say this is to reduce traffic??? read more

Largest state fair i've been to and with AMAZING food options. The roasted corn will never disappoint, they have everything you could imagine in a fried option (oreos, vegetables, kool aide, and even candy bars) definitely a must see! They also have baby animals for the kids including chicks and ducklings that you can pet.. amazeballs! read more

Great fair. So much fun. My family and I go every few years. Its hard to get them to go on the big rides but the games in the midway no prob. This year we even lucked out and won a goldfish. The also has a hamster dance where kids and adults could go into giant balls and walk on water. It was great. We alleys have so much fun! read more

I LOVE the NC State Fair. For my money, it's the best state fair in the whole good ol' U.S. of A.! Now if you don't like walking, or delicious greasy food, or carnival rides, or playing carnival games, or just have a stick up your butt, this place is NOT for you. Please don't come and spoil it for everybody else. One thing you do want to do if possible, is get the coupons for some cash off your admission. I think they usually have them at Food Lion, but that might not be the case this year. If you or your kids want to ride the rides, make sure you get a wristband! Then you can ride unlimited for like 25 bucks instead of having to keep buying tickets, which can add up pretty darn quick! I always have to have an italian sausage dog, some pizza, and cheese fries when I go. Have fun and make sure you have a deep fried OREO! :-) Tell em, Vinny sent ya! :D read more

What a great way to spend a day and a ton of money!! This was my first trip to the NC fair. A few notes: - The place was being kept impressively clean considering the massive number of people there; trash cans were emptied and trash picked up off the ground - The food stalls are mostly the same 5 stalls, repeated about 20 times each. Hard to find anything a little different. I felt like I was in a cartoon with scenery wrap. Finally found some Greek food which was about the only "healthy" option, but I'm sure by next year they'll have found a way to deep-fry gyros - The employees were friendly and jovial. If you chit chat with the game operators for a bit, they'll give you a free try at the games :) - There weren't very many animals - The rides looked fun but some of them were making loud creaky noises and I saw some people stuck on a broken roller coaster. Wouldn't trust anything that leaves the ground - There were free shows and demonstrations, and entertainers just wandering around, which really contributed to the festive atmosphere - The "History of the Fair" exhibit was underwhelming. The history exhibit doesn't need to be as old as the fair itself... - Parking at the PNC arena was easy and free, with a free shuttle to the entrance - Would be nice to have a few directional signs placed at the main intersections of paths, pointing to the main buildings and whatnot With the good and the bad, the fair was everything I wanted it to be and more! read more

The NC State fair is fun fall activity. It is such a popular activity that crowds become an issue, so plan accordingly. We have friends that run a food booth each year, and we like to visit and eat there. The activities are great family fun. I have been coming for many years and have many fond memories of this event. read more

I'm sorry, I love fairs, but I just have to knock this down a notch. On the good side, it did bring back great memories from my childhood in Mason County, WV. Greasy food and spinning rides, what evil genius came up with that? On the bad side, I didn't have tips from the other reviewers in advance of the event, so I found it to be REALLY expensive. The cost of food is a given, but $7 admission plus $4-5 for every two minutes on a carnival ride that's been in service since the 70's was a littler disappointing to me. I rode two rides and decided that it just wasn't worth it. Beyond that, though, the fair was a fun experience and a somewhat amusing introduction to life in North Carolina. And I will never forget the strangeness of watching fireworks while "The Guesser" begged loudly for the opportunity to demonstrate his skills to passers-by for a small fee... that just doesn't happen every day. read more

My first state fair! Went with Mom, gf, and cousin. Mom got in free and was super excited (have to be 65). We ate our way through fries, NC state ice cream (huge serving), "hot Wisconsin cheese" (fried cheese sticks), and pizza. Beautiful Sunday morning, highly recommend the shuttle bus to avoid the parking nightmare (if you find a spot, you will be walking forever to get to the fair). It was crazy crowded, I couldn't believe it; at times, we couldn't even move because of the crowds. The indoor areas were a nice break from the heat, and I enjoyed seeing the winning foods on display. read more

It has been a very very long time since I have attended the state fair. My family enjoyed it. There were some great rides for all ages. The food was good...especially the turkey legs! The crowds were OK for the final weekend. Did not get to see the fireworks...but will plan on attending the fair again next year! read more

The State Fair was something that I used to look forward to every year when I was a kid. Now that I moved away, I'm glad that I could enjoy the fair this year. I give the state fair 3 stars. It isn't anything THAT spectacular but if you've never been to the state fair you have to go at least once. The Food: Fried Oreos- BOMB must try 5 stars Roasted Corn- Yummy and delicious, I'm so glad I went to a vendor with the YELLOW corn not the pale-ish everyone else was carrying around. I also MADE sure to find a vendor with all the condiments like paprika, garlic salt, mayo, etc. However, I do wish that the corn vendors would provide a small nesting plate so that I could take full advantage of the mayo on the corn without it slipping off onto the ground. Steak Sandwich- I can't remember the vendor name but I believe they were near the edge of the fair near the lake and all that stuff. I would give this 2-3 stars. Steak was definitely dry and no flavor. I don't usually like to put salt in my food and I had to. I also have been trying to not drench in hot sauce in everything before I eat it but I had to. It was BLAH (red and black little vendor sirloin brothers or something like that) Funnel Cake/Elephant Ears: You can never go wrong That's all I ate at the fair. I regretted that I didn't get a turkey leg :(maybe next time! The Rides: Well after the whole incident with the Vortex I just stuck to rides that I knew were close to the ground. Nothing great about them. Kinda gives you whiplash or your arm feeling sore (talking about the rides that just spin you round & round and there are a few humps). Venue: Be glad that majority of the fair vendors are on cement! You don't have to get your feet too dirty until you get to certain areas with grass and even then it isn't too bad. If you want to be on the more comfy side wear sneakers! Go early if you want to get decent parking. You don't necessarily have to pay $5 or so to score a great lot, if you get there early enough (I arrived at 1215ish got a great spot near the railroad tracks) you'll be able to find something. Busiest times are near in the evening so that people can ride the rides at night and catch the fireworks. Also, if you're a North Carolinian go on the weekdays! It's easier and you don't have to fight your way with the crowd. Also check out CAN night (don't know if they still do that). You bring in x amount of cans and that's your general admission ticket :P read more

Went on my yearly excursion to the NC State Fair. Had a great time trying out the various foodstuffs that were available. Didn't have any success at the games of chance but I got a cool caricature done with my lady & I saw Ron(Lizard Lick Towing) and his family out there too, pretty cool. read more

First and ONLY time at the fair! High priced and overcrowded. Not worth waiting in line for almost everything. No signs up for directions and workers had no clue including info. desks. Maps are useless. Taking the shuttle after the fair was so unorganized and had no direction from any staff. It took us 2 hrs to finally get home from the time we tried to find the right gate to leave and take the shuttle. Never again! read more

Heard so many ppl talk about the fair, so checked it out. LAME! Its an oversized carnival with a bunch of fatty, fried food. I had hoped for some good exhibits. There were a handful of cows, a few pigs and sheep, and some bees. The flower garden was cool to walk through. It really could use a beer garden or some where for adults to have fun. The NC Wine and Beer exhibit was the best part. Doubt ill come back next year. read more

Always a good time. Parking was a challenge, Big Al's BBQ great, Ice Cream wonderful, and went to see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. I am now in love with Joan Jett. read more

Got To Be NC Festival, Fun, FREE event that compares to a smaller version of the state fair. $2 to go in the expo center where you can sample a number of wines, BBQ sauces and other NC favorites! Good way to spend the day. read more

Great event to visit it every year. It has nice rides and lots of tasty but calorie rich food. The only downside of it is how pricy the food and rides are and also the difficult parking situation. I also don't understand why an entry fee is charged as everything inside is paid. In other countries such fairs are free and people are more willing to spend money in food and rides as they don't have to spend money on the entry. The entry fee really sums up if you are a family. read more

The NC State Fair is pretty much the same every year - rides, shows, exhibits, deep fried everything, and (mostly) rip off carnival games. It's a good way to spend a nice day outside (as me and my roommates did this year), but it honestly gets old after 2-3 times. This year was my 3rd time going and I think it'll probably the last in a long time. I like the deep fried oreos and the doner kebabs here. Don't spend too much money on the carnival games - they all add up really quickly! (Protip: Just look at the size of the prizes... if everything there is humongous, that game is going to be impossible.) read more

I think that I've missed the fair twice in my life. Like any child, I was drawn to the excitement of the fair. But now I'm a mom and all grown up. I've traveled internationally, I've worked on organic farms, I'm finishing up my graduate degree, and I just contributed to NPR. I keep thinking that the fair is going to be too profane, too consumptive, just too much of the wrong thing. I keep returning year after year and I'm still delighted. Even with record turn out this year, it was still enjoyable. Here are my recommendations for keeping sane and not breaking the bank at the fair: -buy your tickets ahead of time: ride tickets are almost 50% cheaper & admission is a little cheaper, but you don't have to wait in line and buy a ticket once you're there. -go early, the fair gets more crowded as the day progresses; you can also park close and not pay -the joy of the fair (for me at least) is in the livestock, exhibits, & the people; the activities that we enjoyed the most were free or pretty cheap. Here's a few: holding the chicks and ducklings in the poultry tent; milking the cow at the milking both and getting a box of milk after wards ($2.00); walking through the 4-H and county competitions of best cake, cookies, and sewing; getting beautiful face painting for the kids (free with N&O subscription); getting stickers and temp. tattoos from the political and cause based exhibitors; and more -food tips: I recommend eating before you go to get something of substance in you will help you caloricly and will help your budget. But by all means enjoy the food & here are my picks: Mt. Olive Pickle w/ scratch n' sniff sticker ($0.50); small cup - you choose - sweet or spicy peanuts ($0.50); frozen banana dipped in chocolate ($3.00); maple syrup cotton candy ($3.00); NC country ham yeast biscuit (so good - didn't pay for it so I don't know)... I don't do this myself, but if I'm with someone who's getting one, I want a bite. The deep fried snickers is goooood! -Lastly, I live in Raleigh so I could go multiple times. I think this lowered my stress level on making sure that I saw everything. I could also tell my kid, "We're coming back, so we can do that next time." I do recommend more than one trip per year. read more

I am always a fan of the state fair. I always get Pik and Pig with their sweet bbq sauce. This year, I tried the Krispy Kreme Burger. I went to the small location since I heard the other 2 locations did not look good or taste good. I tried the Ragin Cajun Country ham and cheddar. What a rip off. Don't waste your money. All hype and tasteless hush puppies. As one reviewer said biggest disappointment. I know they know this is a rip off. Spend your money somewhere else since they can't get a new food right at the fair. read more

Always a fun thing to do any day of the week in mid October. plenty of options for food, rides, games. Seems to be more focused on commercial than the livestock and produce, the primary reason for the NC Fair. read more

Went over this past weekend with the RTP Corvette Club. Had 23 of our cars present for display at the weekend event. Was a beautiful day. Was disappointed that they made us drive past a gate to where we were positioned only to have us come back around and over a dirt road. Someone obviously was not thinking straight! These are $100,000 cars you asked to drive over a dirt and rock road. The only announcement we got at the event was when the security asked someone to move their truck and car from where we were parked. A lot of folks didn't know where they had us stashed at in the back of the event. Better luck next time. read more

Went on Friday, 10/16/2015 and ate at one of the McBrides(sp?) ordered Italian sausage and onions (couldn't resist). It was barely warm, although the grill area I ordered from was sizzling hot. What gives? Really disappointed at the $8 spent for this. (Plus the $2 for a small drink) My expectation was a grilled delight (not some warmed-over hardened left over turd-like substance) OK just realized YELP does not allow, if I am correct, multiple reviews for the same business. So, I ordered (not sure from whom) a soft-serve ice cream in a cup with dipped chocolate. They couldn't do it, they say. I did not want a cone, ok - reduce sugar. So I got a cone, with ice cream, dipped in chocolate and a cup with a spoon. Listed price was $4 for ice cream, 50 cents for chocolate dip; but they charged me $5. I asked why and was ignored - I assumed another 50 cents for the foam cup...they could have responded to my inquiry. I felt disrespected. Finally, after walking around for what seemed like miles, I went to Brantleys (sp?) and ordered a foot-long hot dog. They dipped into a vat of warm water and slung this skinny dog onto a bun and I said put some chili and cheese on it - they poured on some "stuff". They unfortunately could not give me a cup of water - I was forced to order a soda. So, in total, another $10 The food was barely recognizable as a hot dog; the chili had no taste; and the cheese was, well, certainly out of a can and had no real cheese taste. The only really nice thing to happen was a young man with a very unusual hair cut came up to me and asked if he could take away my food tray for me. What? When does this happen? Can you believe this? In my hour of food darkness, a bright light shone in the simple gesture of a very kind young man. I did my best to thank him, (I am not sure he understood how grateful I was for his gesture) and as I walked away shortly after, I felt a renewed wonder at the magic of the state fair. read more

Failed attempt yesterday trying to get into the fair:((sat in a gridlock to park for almost 3hrs and NEVER did get to park so we finally got out of the gridlock to find ourselves in gridlocks around the whole fairgrounds but after 3hrs being stuck in gridlocks we went back home:((they built new townhouses which took ALOT of the parking from the patrons and a lot of lots were permits only and the ones you could pay to park was $20:(((WHAT A MESS!!! Could only imagine what it was like inside the gate, probably everyone being smothered by each other! Was a wasted day for us just trying to park!!! They DON'T have enough parking for the crowd that comes to enjoy the fair for the day. They didn't have a problem raising the price on the tickets to get in at the gate not knowing that there wasn't gonna be any parking for anybody once they got there, so sad!!! Hope they make changes on this for the following years!!!!! read more

Too crowded if you go on a weekend. Horrible parking situation and the walkways and midways were too crowded to even move. Not that exciting. read more

I hate crowds! I hate paying $5 each for a carnival ride! I hate paying $4 for a deep-fried cookie! I hate paying $5 for parking at a place that usually has free parking! Animals are cute but how many bunnies and chickies do you want to look at in a day. I hate that the fireworks wake my dogs up every night at ten. I should hate everything about the State Fair but I have gone for the past 5 years and cannot wait to go again next year. What is up with that? read more

ATTENTION FOODIES....Bluebird Cupcakes in the Kerr Scott Building have yummy scrummy delicious out of this world rockn cupcakes...OMG, I had a key lime cupcake yesterday with fresh whipped cream and a key lime drizzle...AND a smores with torched marshmallow and graham cracker crumb crust...3 bucks...a bargain. They had to go boxes too, should have got a dozen. awesome cuppies read more

Still lovin' the fair! This year, for parking in a yard down Youth Center drive, one resident was charging $20 and the rest were charging $10 to park. Quite a jump from last year, but still worth it. More tips: -If you are with a friend at the fair & don't mind sharing germs, just split one ice cream from the NC State Univ. ice cream booth. The servings really are gigantic & I couldn't even finish mine. -I skipped out on work on a weekday to go with my hubby. It was way less crowded, but that also kind of took some of the fun out of it (surprisingly). Less people at the fair = less amusing people watching. -If you will need holiday presents, keep your eyes open!!! Especially go to the Village of Yesteryear area to the Holshouser building (I believe). The building is PACKED with all sorts of goodies. There were cool handmade items...pottery, leatherwork, ornaments, just neat stuff! And if you're really looking for pottery, there is always a building dedicated to NC pottery. This year it was in a makeshift building on the backside of Dorton arena. Lots of very cool stuff here. -There is a candy apple vendor in the Commercial Building or the Education Building (I think). I can't remember the name, but you will know it because there are TONS of different types of apples. Get an apple there! I forgot about it & wish I had gotten one. -The vendor that sells bulk chocolate covered items in the same building as the candy apple lady does not have very good chocolate. We bought some dark chocolate covered something there. It was really cheap dark chocolate. I will not go back there. read more

Aside from the normal Carni fare and freak shows, this Fair has a special place in my heart. I have never seen someone shoot live ammo at a fair, and I have never seen Chocolate covered Bacon. Picture if you will me firing a shotgun in a turkey shoot with melting chocolate bacon hanging out of my mouth. It doesn't take much to make me happy. read more

Wow, this was my 1st time going to the NC state fair.. And ya the prices are a little expensive.. It's like at least $3 for a bottle of water. And $9 for all kinds of food.. But it's so worth it.. I'm considering working out and eating healthy all year just so I can pig out at the fair next year. It was so much fun, they have rides, shows, food. You can't ask for anything else. The parking was much better then I thought. We were able to park maybe a quarter mile away. Which isn't bad. We got the turkey legs which were a little salty but really delicious. We also got some Wisconsin cheddar nuggets. It tastes like a grilled cheese in a bite. It was ok. It tasted like a grilled cheese. Lol. We played a few games which were lots of fun. We didn't see any shows but I'm sure those are great too. I can't wait to go back next year. If I move, I'm renting a room at a hotel just to go to the fair. :) read more

one of the best fairs in the state! I try to make it each year. the food is tempting...!!!

this is boring, crowded and insane. i went there three time in a row so i def not go this year!

It's the state fair, junk food galore and a ton of junky games. The rides I wouldn't put my children on as they just don't appear safe, even though I know they are inspected. The flower displays and the exhibition halls are fantastic though. The yesteryear area has fantastic artisans and stuff for sale. Well worth going to if you go early on a weekend or during the week. By 2pm on a week day it's absolutely packed and crazy busy. Buy tix online in advance as well to make for easy entry. read more

Tons of fun ! Expect to spend a lot and I would avoid going on weekends. I went last night and it was hard to walk around it was so crowded only made it halfway through the fair read more

I am 40 something now and had stopped attending awhile back,until the birth of my twin girls now 8years old ,now I'm a regular attendee again and we enjoy every thing about the fair!!!!!We cant wait........ read more

old bait and switch tactics....me and wife wanted to see news boys and we checked before we headed there then when we get there after already paying to get inside we go to buy tickets and the ticket lady tells us "oh that concert was sold out before fair even opened" yet they said nothing on the website prior to about an hr before the show oh and I forgot to mention watching the climb the ladder lady push the ladder at the bottom to flip the customers off of the ladder when she thinks no one is looking while I was watching about to get on the ferris wheel read more