It's still about four and half months until the North Carolina State Fair, but if you want some of the foods, rides, and exhibits to tide you over, you're in luck. The Department of Agriculture's first "Got to be NC" Festival starts next Thursday and runs through the weekend. The Web site's at http://www.ncagfest.com/ .

The gates are open Thursday and Friday 3pm to Midnight, and on Saturday and Sunday 10am to Midnight. Admission is free (hey!) except for Grandstand events, which are $5. The rides are pay-as-you-go, as they are at the Fair.

So how is this event like the Fair? There's going to be an (Antique) Tractor Pull, petting zoo, music, rides (the site says three dozen but doesn't say who the amusement company is), and food. How is it not like the Fair? It's free for starters, and it looks like most of what's going on will be toward the northeast part of the grounds, near the Kerr Scott building. According to the fairgrounds event calendar, it looks like all the other fairgrounds events will be taking place as scheduled. That includes the regular weekend flea market and, apparently, roller derby.

There will be a couple of events unique to this new festival, and I'll talk about those in the next post.