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Fair offers rides, food, animals and more

The Mountain State Fair this week offers rides, food and music along with lots of farm animals and equipment for crowds to enjoy.

By Amy McCraw, Published: September 18, 2026

Whether watching newborn calves in the Mooternity Ward or pigs racing on a speedway, visitors to the Mountain State Fair this week celebrated farm life in Western North Carolina.

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The fair also gave visitors the chance to enjoy food, music, rides, games and a variety of competitions. The fair located at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher runs through Sunday.

Drew Exposition, the midway provider, debuted four new rides, including The Dairy, a spinning ride complete with flying cow cars; The Horror Hotel a walk-through spookhouse; Crazy Cars geared for the kiddos; and The Aeromax, which lifts adults and kids in brightly colored airplanes around 40 feet in the air for a high-altitude spin. 

New grounds acts include comedy Juggler Neils Dunker, who hails from the Netherlands, holds three Guiness World Records and has been featured at the Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., will bring his solo show to the fairgrounds daily. 

Also new this year is the Butterfly Experience, an immersive experience where fairgoers can walk through an enclosure and feed three different varieties of butterflies.