RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina State Fair closed the gates on its 11-day run in Raleigh on Sunday, and the crowd count heading into the last day showed this year’s fair running behind 2025.
Fair officials put attendance at 817,852 through the end of Saturday, an average of close to 82,000 visitors a day. At the same point last year, before the final Sunday, the count stood at 849,611, and the 2025 fair finished with 946,811 visitors. Saturday alone drew 120,837 people. Figures for the closing day had not been released.
Catching last year’s total would have taken roughly 124,000 visitors on each of the last two days, and Saturday came in short of that mark. Since the pandemic, the final Sunday has typically drawn a little over 100,000 people. The best recent closing-day crowd came in 2018, when 130,319 people turned out.
The weather did not hold the fair back, with clear skies and temperatures in the low 70s over the final weekend. Gas prices were another story for families driving in from across the state. A few days before opening day, state leaders put North Carolina’s 41-cent-per-gallon fuel tax on hold, though it is unclear how much relief that brought.
Inside the gates, vendors worked under a new rule. Under a change announced back in the spring, every food and drink stand now owes the fair a license fee of 15% of gross sales. Some stands raised prices, and some familiar vendors did not come back. Fair director Kent Yelverton said those businesses would have to explain their own choices, and he pointed out that vendors who do come see close to a million potential customers walk past.
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