The N.C. State Fair doesn't officially open until Friday. But once again this year, early birds can get a half-day peek on Thursday.
Preview Day starts at 3 p.m. Thursday, when gates open. The Midway and exhibition halls open at 3:30 p.m.
Here's the really good news -- Thursday's admission is cheaper. Adults (13-64) get in for $5 (as opposed to $7 on other days). Kids 6-12 get in for $1 (usually it is $2). As always, those 5 and younger and 65 and older get in free.
And if you like rides, you can get a $25 wristband once you enter the fair that will let you ride unlimited rides until midnight. Wristbands will only be sold from Midway ticket booths.
Thad Ogburn is The N&O's Metro Editor, overseeing most local news reporting. His previous jobs have included editor of North Raleigh News and Features Editor, during which he learned that comics attract more reader response than just about anything else we do. His guilty pleasure is reality TV, which he finds not very real at all. That's assuming, of course, there is room on his DVR amid his daughter's "iCarly" episodes and his wife's daily installments of "One Life To Live."
