The Little Fair that Could

North Carolina’s mountains have become a getaway destination, and even a second home, to many people literally from around the country and the world. The High Country is favored by those who live in hot climates for cool air and hills shaded by dense tree cover, and a combination of the remote and the convenient.

The fair was born in 1994, created by the N.C. Department of Agriculture under Commissioner “Big Jim” Graham, and nurtured by his successors, including current Commissioner Steve Troxler. The gates opened Sept. 5, 1994, for the new North Carolina Mountain State Fair, operated by the Division of Marketing for the N.C. Department of Agriculture. The five day fair was held in the McGough Arena and surrounding buildings, with the carnival in the parking lot. More than 45,000 visitors came through the gates that year.

The Mountain State Fair certainly has a good bit of its bigger sibling in Raleigh, the annual October tribute to all things North Carolina, the State Fair. But the Mountain State Fair is something pretty amazing. Because it started from scratch and is barely over 25 years old. It has faced many challenges, from bad weather, to really bad weather to the difficulty of surviving despite being in a remote part of the state, one relatively sparse in year-round population.

But it still thrives today.

And 2021 is going to be the fair’s biggest year ever, a forecast made with fingers crossed that the pandemic that has attacked our state and our nation has been brought under control.

In 1994, the fair began with a few days of exhibits, some rides, some agricultural competitions — what would a fair be without the biggest cow, the most handsome horse, and kids in overalls leading them around the grounds— and rides.

But over the years, the 45,000 attendance figure for those first few days in 1994 has grown to 180,000, with expanded events such as gospel singing, all manner of growing competitions (pumpkins the size of Volkswagens — ok, maybe not quite that big) and still with that flavor of what fairs ought to be. Namely, with an emphasis on families and kids and just the joy of walking the grounds hand-in-hand and arm-in-arm and taking things.

And it’s the fair that doesn’t give up. Hurricane Floyd threatened the fair in 1999. But the fair lost only one day.

Of course, the fair couldn’t overcome the pandemic that really stole a year from all North Carolinians and in fact from all Americans. The 2020 fair had to be called off.

But that’s left the good, strong people of Fletcher and Henderson County and the surrounding mountain communities more determined to bring back their prized fair, which really is a remarkable monument to grit and hard work. Just think of it: This is a celebration that started from scratch — from scratch — and will likely cross 200,000 visitors when it reconvenes this year after Labor Day.

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