North Carolina State Fair 2017: New Menu, Getting There By Train, How To Get Tickets

The North Carolina State Fair is kicking off next weekend at the state fairgrounds in Raleigh, bringing together animals, live music, rides and more delicious fried festival foods than any one person should probably consider eating in one place. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the state fair held annually to promote the state’s artisans and agriculture.

The state fair has several new culinary attractions this year, starting with the new Our State Public House that will feature 40 craft beers and 40 wines produced in North Carolina. With the purchase of a $10 ticket, visitors to the public house will be able to buy sample-size flights of wine and beer.

“The Our State Public House is an opportunity to showcase North Carolina’s growing beer and wine industries, which are significant contributors to our agricultural economy,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a statement. “Visitors can also learn how these products are made.”

Another main attraction each year at the fair is the food. This year, the N.C. State Fair will introduce more than 20 new foods to the lineup of staples.

Some of the new menu items at this year’s fair include

• Arepas and Envueltos
• Bacon wrapped scallops
• Cheerwine Funnel cake
• Bacon mac and cheese
• Firecracker shrimp
• Wisconsin Deep fired white cheddar
• Deep fried key lime bites
• Fried turkey sandwich
• Deep fried pumpkin pie
• Deep fried crab cake
• Deep fried bacon and cheese collard bites
• Deep fried chocolate pie
• Deep fried dirty rice
• Deep fried apple pie
• Thanksgiving eggroll

You can find photos of the new foods and descriptions here.

Getting to there by train
Fair attendees from the Charlotte area can easily get to the fairgrounds by train thanks to a special stop Amtrak will be using outside Gate 1.

To ride an Amtrak train to the fairgrounds from Charlotte:

• Take the Carolinian 80 from Charlotte at 7 a.m., Kannapolis at 7:25 a.m. or Salisbury at 7:43 a.m. The train makes stops in High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham and Cary before arriving at the fairgrounds at 10:25 a.m.
• To return home, take the Carolinian 79 from the State Fairgrounds stop at 5:16 p.m, arriving in Salisbury at 7:55 p.m., Kannapolis at 8:12 p.m., and Charlotte at 8:44 p.m.

To book a train ticket online, use the station code NSF. You can find Amtrak’s daily train schedules for the Carolinian route here.

How To Buy Tickets
Fair visitors can buy tickets online or at the gate. Online, adult tickets are $8, and children ages 6-12 are $3. Seniors are free. At the gate, adult tickets are $10 and children are $5.

You can find a daily schedule of events here.

Photo via Pixabay

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