The Carolina Classic Fair, formerly the Dixie Classic Fair, is an annual

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

held in

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. The fair takes place every autumn on the

Winston-Salem Fairgrounds The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds (previously known as the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds) was a dirt oval track racing, oval track spanning in addition to its primary purpose as a fairground. During the times of the year that it wasn't expected to host ...

(formerly the Forsyth County Fairgrounds), which is part of the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex; the grounds are next to the

Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (also known as LJVM Coliseum, Joel Coliseum or simply The Joel) is a 14,665-seat multi-purpose arena, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Construction on the arena began on April 23, 1987, and it opened ...

. In 2007, 371,219 people attended, setting a record that ranked the fair as the 50th-best-attended in North America. In the state, it has been second only to the

North Carolina State Fair The North Carolina State Fair is an American state fair and agricultural Trade fair, exposition held annually in Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1853, the fair is organized by the North Carolina Department of Agricu ...

in attendance for many years. The fair began in the former town of

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada * Salem, Ontario, various places Germany * Salem, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the Bodensee district ** Salem Abbey (Reichskloster Salem), a monastery * Salem, Schleswig-Holstein Israel * Salem (B ...

as a grain exposition in 1882 (2007 was the 125th anniversary). In 1897, the Piedmont Tobacco Fair was started and shortly thereafter the two events merged to form the Winston-Salem Fair. The fair moved to its current fairgrounds in 1952 and changed its name to the "Dixie Classic Fair for Northwest North Carolina" in 1956. Until 2019, the event was most commonly known as just the Dixie Classic Fair. In October 2019, the Winston-Salem City Council voted to change the name because "

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

" was seen as lauding the slave-owning and

secessionist Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. There were no fairs in 1917-18, 1942-45, or 2020.

External links

Carolina Classic Fair official website

References

{{coord, 36.124565, -80.253754, display=title Annual fairs Economy of Winston-Salem, North Carolina Events in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Fairs in the United States Tourist attractions in Winston-Salem, North Carolina