The North Carolina State Fair is a cultural staple of the Piedmont region. To many, the Fall season isn’t complete without a massive turkey leg in hand and the residual nausea from a spinning fair ride. Unfortunately, these festivities are much harder to enjoy safely amidst a global pandemic.
The fair’s attendance was down by over 116,000 attendees as compared to 2019’s fair. This lower turnout instilled faith in some that the fair wouldn’t be COVID-ridden, but with new cases in the thousands every day in North Carolina, many were disappointed in the State Fair’s laissez-faire approach to COVID precautions. Though disposable face coverings were provided at the event, masks were not required, nor was proof of vaccination.
“Most of the time, especially when I was going through crowded areas– just because you’re at a point where you’re around hundreds of people at a time– I wore a mask,” senior Noah Kelley said. “I think that the people for the State Fair did not care at all [about COVID precautions] because I was told they were going to be checking people to see if they were vaccinated and no one ever got asked if they were.”
To celebrate FFA (Future Farmers of America) Day, members of Northwood’s FFA visited the State Fair to experience the agricultural culture of North Carolina up-close.
“We had a great experience,” Agriculture teacher Laura Smith said. “Our students participated in an agriculture scavenger hunt… They had to find examples of agriculture and take pictures with them. We also enjoyed some yummy fair food.”
Graphic via Triangle On The Cheap
