NC State Fair No. 5 on social media

Next month marks the return of the state fair, and ours is quite popular. The North Carolina State Fair, “A celebration of North Carolina,” ranks fifth most popular on social media and has something for everyone. 

North Carolina State Fair earned its top five finish with 116,004 posts across Instagram and TikTok. The most used hashtag for the fair is, naturally, #ncstatefair. Individually, the fair has 5,629 TikTok posts, with 61,608,686 total views and 110,375 posts on Instagram.

Social media is becoming increasingly important for communications and promotion, and these platforms offer avenues to communicate with the public that weren’t available previously.

“It does allow us to communicate directly with fairgoers, and we also spend a considerable amount of time developing relationships with influencers in the state,” Heather Overton, assistant director of public affairs for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Some groups work hard to promote North Carolina, and we tried to foster relationships with them, so they’re posting on the fair.”

Experts at QR Code Generator analyzed the number of Instagram and TikTok posts using the hashtags for each State Fair in the US to determine which ones are the most popular across social media.

People generally post about what they find most interesting; a lot of people care are most enthused bythe new foods coming to the fair. 

“We know a big thing people care about is the new foods that are coming, and I think that that probably really helps drive our social media numbers,” continued Overton.

The state fair hosts an annual food competition between vendors for the best “new food of the fair.” Though, not all vendors compete, last year 30 new food vendors entered the competition. Overton said there were probably twice as many new foods last year.

The new foods for the 2024 fair will be announced in early October. 

“The state fair has something for everyone, whether you come for the food, the agricultural exhibits, or the rides,” said Overton.

With multiple music stages, the fair features artists and musicians from across North Carolina. The musical acts for the 2024 state fair will be announced next week. The fair also boasts the “Got to be NC” pavilion, which highlights specialty products made in the state, such as prized livestock and blue-ribbon winners.

This year’s “Home Chef Challenge” cooking competitions have been announced. Each day will feature a unique theme. These competitions bring in some of the highest prize money at the fair. 

Other new additions to this year’s fair include new rides to be announced later in September. The North Carolina State Fair boasts about 100 rides in total.

“If you think you have a specialty in arts and photography, baking, bees and honey, clothing, or needlecraft. our competitions are still open,” added Overton “It’s free to enter nearly all the competitions, and you have until September 15th.” The daily program, musical acts, and information will be posted on the website.

“Every State Fair is special, but I really do think that the team that we have that put together the State Fair works hard to showcase the state,” said Overton. “Many of our vendors are local, and all our musical acts are local. I think that when you come to the North Carolina State Fair, you do get a feel of North Carolina.”

Tickets can now be bought in advance at the cheapest price online.

The fair opens Oct. 17 and runs through Oct. 27 at the State Fair Grounds in Raleigh.

The post NC State Fair No. 5 on social media first appeared on Carolina Journal.