Another weekend of busy traffic around concerts and state fair. Attendees say they're prepared

Traffic at the North Carolina State Fair saw some hiccups on Friday as the Lenovo Center hosted another concert next door.

NBA Youngboy was performing at the Lenovo Center, with many fans lining up to enter the arena. Sky 5 flew over west Raleigh Friday night as people made their way to the venue and the fairgrounds, which caused traffic backups in some areas.

Despite the traffic issues, most people around the fairgrounds and the Lenovo Center said they had no problem getting to the concert of the North Carolina State Fair.

“It was super smooth. We got here early. There wasn’t a lot of people in line. We came right through,” said Noriana Ellison, who was going to the concert.

Lenovo Center and Carter-Finley Stadium have hosted several concerts during the run of the North Carolina State Fair. During the opening days of the fair, the Lenovo Center hosted a Billie Eilish concert for back-to-back nights, and on Saturday, the arena will host a Tate McRae concert.

Concert-goers on Friday said they were warned ahead of time of possible traffic issues.

“We did get emails saying there was going to be more traffic, so be prepared,” said Tiffany Batres, another concertgoer.

With the state fair entering its final weekend, officials are continuing to urge people to show up early and make a plan to navigate traffic from the concert and the fair. As of Friday, many people who spoke with WRAL News said they are doing just that.

“We took the day off work, came here ready, got our hotel and came straight here,” another concertgoer said.

Friday’s concert had a no-bag policy, but 4.5" x 6.5" bags or smaller are permitted for the Tate McRae concert. The Raleigh Police Department is also warning both concertgoers and fair attendees not to leave any valuables in their cars due to an increase in break-ins across the area, adding that they will have additional patrols in the parking lots.