NC’s agriculture commissioner proclaims: ‘We’re gonna have us a State Fair this year’
With the number of coronavirus cases declining in recent weeks, North Carolina seems on track to welcome back one of its most beloved traditions: The State Fair.
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler made the bold proclamation during a State of Agriculture address on Wednesday: “We’re gonna have us a State Fair this year.”
“A year without a State Fair is almost unendurable,” Troxler continued. “So we’re working very hard to make this the best State Fair that anybody has ever seen, and with your help, it will be the biggest State Fair that we’ve ever seen.”
Troxler encouraged everyone to “go out and get your vaccine as soon as they are available to you, so that we can have a safe State Fair and a record attendance at the State Fair.”
The dates for the 2021 NC State Fair are Oct. 14-24.
Mountain State Fair also in works
The speech was streamed on Facebook by the North Carolina Farm Bureau.
Troxler also said that officials are “moving ahead” with plans for the Mountain State Fair, Western North Carolina’s annual fair in Fletcher, which usually happens in September. That fair is on the calendar for Sept. 10-19 this year.
“We’ve been lucky to move some money around to help the Mountain State Fair and the State Fair, and we’re hopeful the legislature will help us out some more,” Troxler said.
The State Fairgrounds lost $9.2 million in revenue in the past year because of the cancellation of events, including both fairs.
“We need a really good State Fair to get back on sound financial footing,” Troxler said. “Come out to the fairs.”
Troxler said during the speech that he has had his second COVID-19 vaccination and that he looks forward to everyone “returning to some sense of normalcy.”
The 2020 State Fair was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The call was made in late July, and Troxler said at the time that they waited as long as they could, in hopes that the fair could go on.
“This is a glad place in October, it doesn’t get any better,” Troxler said in 2020. “I see all the people with the smiles on their faces, the kids out here enjoying themselves.”
