Highflying fairgoers enjoy the rides at the Robesonian Regional Agricultural Fair Saturday. The fair closed its gates Sunday, but organizers have already picked a datefor next year’s fair — Sept. 27 to Oct. 5.
‘Everything,’ fair president says, ‘felt like a fresher, brighter fair’
LUMBERTON – The president of the 77th Annual Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair said fair organizers were pleased with the attendance at this year’s nine-day event.
The fair ran from Sept. 27 through Oct. 5 at the Robeson County Fairgrounds off N.C. 41.
This year’s lineup included rides from Big Rock Amusements, gospel music and other musical entertainment, a wide selection of food, livestock shows, home exhibits and a children’s petting zoo.
There were even helicopter rides for $30 a pop.
“The board is pleased,” Tim Taylor said in response to emailed questions, “but the fair is more than attendance numbers. It’s about community. We are thrilled that over 3,000 children and youth participated in the Special Needs Day, more than 1,100 senior adults came to the fairgrounds for the Senior Citizens Day activities. And we were excited to be part of a canned food drive that collected nearly 3,500 cans for those in need within our community.
“Everyone taking part in these events,” Taylor said, “entered the fairgrounds for free.”
In his emailed responses, he said, they were still trying to verify attendance numbers and could not provide a total for the overall crowd numbers at this time.
According to Taylor, attendance numbers were in line with the past five years, excluding the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021. The 2022 fair saw a slight attendance increase over 2019, he added, and 2023 appears to be similar to attendance a year ago.
Over the fair’s first weekend last month, it had competition from the popular Lumbee Tribe Powwow and Friday night high school football games. “That’s hard to judge,” he stated, when asked if those events had any impact on the county fair’s attendance.
“We had a good crowd both weekends,” Taylor said. “Individuals had many choices for family entertainment in our community. It sounds like a great opportunity to support several worthwhile events throughout the county.”
A few people spoke of what they considered the high price of the $30 unlimited rides wristband. But Taylor said he heard no complaints since the price of the ride bands were the same as they were in 2022.
“The carnival was a great partner by not raising their prices this year and keeping the weekday bands at $25, even though their costs for fuel and labor has continued to go up this year.”
The president of the fair reported “no real problems” during the fair’s run. A couple of “small skirmishes lasting about a minute each” took place with law enforcement charging those involved, he said.
“Fair ran the smoothest from start to finish due to everyone working together to make 2023 the best year in recent memory,” he said.
Though the event “had a few sprinkles prior to opening on Friday and Saturday morning,” Taylor called it probably the best weather he could remember for any fair week in a long time.
The food at the fair has long been a major draw for fair-goers, and this year’s event did not disappoint in terms of what vendors had to offer from their mobile food trucks and tents. He said the chicken bog and collard sandwich were the most wanted food at the fair, and that a Philly Cheese Steak Blooming Onion took honors as the best new food item.
Many improvements were made this year, said Taylor, including new lighting in the parking lots, a digital electronic sign, new home exhibit entry software and new ticketing opportunities such as the acceptance of credit cards at the gate.
“Everything,” he surmised, “felt like a fresher, brighter fair …”
Reach Michael Futch by email at mfutch@robesonian.com.