N.C. State Fair coming soon; advance tickets on sale now
Buy early and save money on admission and ride tickets

People interested in going to the 2007 N.C. State Fair can save money on admission and ride tickets by buying them in advance. Discounted tickets will be on sale online Sept. 4-Oct. 11.

Fairgoers buying advance tickets will save $2 per adult admission ticket and $8 per ride sheet. Advance admission tickets will cost $5 for adults and $1 for children ages 6-12. Adult admission tickets for groups of 40 or more will cost $4.75. A coupon that can be redeemed at the State Fair for a sheet of 24 ride tickets will cost $10 in advance.

Advance tickets can be purchased online with a debit or credit card.

Beginning Sept. 27, advance tickets also will be sold at the Agriculture Building in downtown Raleigh, the State Fairgrounds and six malls: Triangle Town Center in Raleigh, Northgate Mall and The Streets at Southpoint in Durham, Four Seasons Town Centre in Greensboro, Burlington Square Mall and Wilson Mall. Tickets will be sold at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh Sept. 29-30 and Oct. 6-7. All locations will accept cash, debit and credit cards except Wilson Mall and the Farmers Market, which will accept cash only.

Dates and times of ticket sales vary among locations. Visit the State Fair Web site, www.ncstatefair.org, for more.

Raleigh-based ETix will again provide online tickets that can be printed at home. Each ticket will have a bar code to be scanned at the gate. If fairgoers lose their ticket prior to attending the fair, they can reprint their tickets at home using a confirmation number that will be e-mailed to them. Once a bar code has been scanned at the gate, the ticket will be invalid.

Internet users can access ride sheets by printing out a coupon and redeeming it at the Fair.
ETix will charge a convenience fee ranging from 5 to 15 percent depending on the type of ticket.

“With online sales, fairgoers can get their tickets immediately in the comfort of their own home,” said Mike Pleasant, State Fair assistant manager. “Shoppers can purchase ride, admission and concert tickets using an online shopping cart to make the process easier.”

Concert tickets also will go on sale Sept. 4 at 8 a.m. and can only be purchased at the State Fair Web site. The State Fair runs Oct. 12-21 at the State Fairgrounds.