The North Carolina State Fair, a division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, today announced a major partnership with Triangle tech leader Bandwidth Inc.As part of the partnership, Bandwidth will become a major sponsor of the N.C. State Fair and the company’s team members will serve as volunteers at various events. Bandwidth will also co-host a key addition to the 2021 N.C. State Fair: accessABILITY Day, a new special event day for people with disabilities.
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The 2021 State Fair Premium Book is finally here, and this year’s new competitions will certainly prove to have been worth the wait. This year’s State Fair will feature several new competitions open for entries. These new competitions were created in an effort to encourage competition entries as these simpler projects can be completed within weeks rather than some projects that can take up to a whole year.
Twenty-six North Carolina students have been named recipients of 2021 N.C. State Fair Youth Livestock Scholarships, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced.The scholarships are designed for high school seniors and students currently enrolled in an institute of higher education who have participated in the junior livestock or market turkey shows at the N.C. State Fair.
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler has announced the cancellation of the 2021 Got to Be NC Festival citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “We are making progress in the state getting people vaccinated against this deadly virus, but we still have a ways to go in these efforts before a larger percentage of the population is vaccinated,” Troxler said. “We want people to be able to come out and safely enjoy all the fun activities offered at the Got to Be NC Festival, but it doesn’t make sense at this time to try to hold this annual event.
The 2023 N.C. State Fair ended its 11-day run with a strong final weekendthat pushed total attendance to 926,425. Other fair highlights included a new auction record forthe Livestock Sale of Champions and strong participation for Smithfield Foods Hunger ReliefDay and competitive entries.
John Tyler Moore of Durham wrapped up the State Fair’s Home Chef Challenge serieswith a first-place win for his Brunch Balls recipe in the Nahunta Pork Center’s Not Your Mama’s Sausage Balls Challenge. Moore won the opening day contest, too. He took home $500 prize for the win.Second place and a $300 prize went to Jill Moore of Chapel Hill for her Flaming Lime Sausage Balls. Third place and $200 went to Kimberly Howell of Raleigh for her for her Slap Yo Sweet Mama – Pineapple Jalapeno Sausage Balls recipe.The winning recipe follows:
Mother of four Kim Cooper of Carolina Beach earned a blue ribbon and a $500 prize in the Let's Get Cheesy: Mac-n-Cheese Challenge with her family recipe for Mema’s Mac & Cheese.Jessica Williams of Raleigh took second place and won $300 for her loaded seafood mac andcheese. Allison Wylie of Garner took third place and won $200 for her Korean fried chicken macand cheese.The winning recipe follows:Mema’s Mac & CheeseIngredients:
Sarah Hester of Knightdale won the N.C. State Fair’s Home Chef Challenge titled the “Summer Salad of the South: Kickin’ Chicken Salad Challenge” presented by House of Raeford Farms. Hester’s Curry Chicken Salad earned $500 in prize money. This is the first year Hester has competed in the fair’s cooking competitions, and she also won this year’s “Make-Ahead Lunch” challenge.Lisa Brescia of Cary placed second, earning $300 for her “Thai Meets Indi Curry Salad.” Third place and $200 went to Pamela Cash of Youngsville for her traditional chicken salad.
Savannah Ranson of Raleigh placed first in the Carnitas Street Taco Challengepresented by Smithfield Foods. Her Blue Corn Carnitas Street Tacos won her the blue ribbon anda prize of $500.Chelsie Rose Troxel of Angier won the second-place price and $300 with her Sweet CarnitaTacos. Aisha Barnes of Wake Forest won third place with her Carnitas Recipe, and was also thewinner of $200.The winning recipe follows:Blue Corn Carnitas Street TacosIngredients:Carnitas:
Registered Dietitian Sarah Hester of Knightdale took home the blue ribbon and a$500 prize in the MREs in ’23: Make-Ahead Lunch Challenge presented by Wegmans with arecipe for sweet potato beef taco skillet.Amy Zimmerman of Raleigh took second place and won $300 for her chicken and rice bowl.Aaminah Hasan of Durham took third place and won $200 for her Mason jar miso soup.The winning recipe follows:Sweet potato beef taco skilletMakes 2-4 servingsIngredients: