Chris Brown concert kicks off busy week around North Carolina State Fairgrounds

Between Tuesday night's Chris Brown concert at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh and crowds flocking to the North Carolina State Fair, there is bound to be a lot of traffic this week in the area of Blue Ridge Road.
Posted 10/14/2025, 8:30:00 PM Updated 10/15/2025, 12:21:28 PM

FOUND ON CAMPUS.

>> AND RIGHT NOW AT 4 O'CLOCK,

IT IS A BIG WEEK FOR RALEIGH,

THE KICKOFF TO A NUMBER OF

EVENTS IN AND AROUND BIG

ARENAS, WHICH MEANS, OF COURSE,

MAJOR TRAFFIC KID HEADACHES FOR

ALL OF US. THANKS FOR JOINING

US. I'M LENA TILLETT AND I'M

DAN HAGGERTY CHEF CHRIS BROWNS

CONCERT TONIGHT AND THE STATE

FAIR IS ON THURSDAY. IT'S A BIG

TIME FOR CONCERTS IN GENERAL.

IT ALONE OVER CENTER. BILLY

IRISH EILISH NBA YOUNGBOY TATE

MCRAE LOT OF BIG NAMES GOING TO

BE FILLING UP THE STADIUM

THERE. WRAL'S SEAN GALLAGHER IS

AT CARTER FINLEY STADIUM.

SEAN FANS DID HEED THE THE

WARNING TO GET THERE EARLY

TONIGHT.

>> YEAH, THAT'S FOR SURE.

I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S THE

WARNINGS OR JUST THEIR FAN

SHIP. THEY OPENED UP THE GATES

AT 2 O'CLOCK. AND FANS LINING

UP IMMEDIATELY TO SEE CHRIS

BROWN, THE FIRST CONCERT AT

CARTER FINLEY IN NEARLY 10

YEARS. EVERYBODY WANTED TO BE

HERE AND CHECK OUT HOW LONG

THIS LINE IS. ALL OF THESE

PEOPLE STILL WAITING TO GET

INSIDE FOR A CONCERT THAT

DOESN'T START UNTIL 7 O'CLOCK.

BUT THIS IS A TEST OF WHAT'S TO

COME. CARTER FINLEY HAS THE

CAPACITY FOR MORE THAN 50,000,

MOST OF WHICH STILL IN THEIR

CARS HEADED IN, AS YOU CAN SEE

FROM OUR TRAFFIC CAMERAS ALONG

THE WAY AS ORGANIZERS HOPE TO

AVOID A REPEAT OF PROBLEMS

PAST.

>> A BREEZY FANS TOOK THEIR

LOVE TO A NEW LEVEL THAT THEY

WILL BEHEAD TALK-SHOW. STARTING

TO SAY THAT WE HAVE A 5 OUT

WITH FANS NOT WANTING TO RISK

WAITING IN TRAFFIC FOR EVER

EVER OF IT AT ME LIKE A ROOM.

HE IS TERRIBLE. LIKE YOU NEED

TO PLAN 2 HAITI. THAT KIND OF

ADVICE IS WHAT THE LENOVO

CENTER IS PUSHING FOR. ANYONE

COMING OUT TO SHOWS WHERE THE

STATE FAIR OVER THE NEXT 2

WEEKS.

>> LEAVE EARLY AND LOOK FOR

ALTERNATE ROUTES. THE GOAL IS

TO AVOID THIS. GRIDLOCK TRAFFIC

DURING THE SABRINA CONCERT TOUR

LAST YEAR. IT'S NOT A NEW

PROBLEM. THE LAST TIME CARTER

FINLEY HOSTED A CONCERT AND

2016.

WE ON SAFE AND START WITH

MASSIVE TRAFFIC ISSUES THEN

TOO. SO REALLY, IF YOU'RE NOT

ALREADY HERE, YOU'RE ALREADY

LATE. BUT DEFINITELY IT'S GOING

TO BE OR GET ME IN DIFFERENT

TO OURS GETTING OUT. IF YOU

>> FIREWORKS EXPECTED HERE FOR

EVERYBODY. IS THERE REALLY

PUMPED FOR THIS CONCERT HERE?

BUT EVENT ORGANIZERS HAVE

LEARNED FROM PAST MISTAKES

THERE WAS A TRIFECTA OF TROUBLE

THAT HIT THIS AREA OVER 20

YEARS AGO. THERE WAS A

HURRICANE'S CONCERT AT THE

LENOVO CENTER, A WOLF PACK

FOOTBALL GAME AND ALSO STATE

FAIR AT ONCE. IT WAS SO BAD

THAT THE TEENS AND WOLF PACK

BOTH I SENT LETTERS TO THEIR

RESPECTIVE ORGANIZATION SAYING

DON'T SCHEDULE ANY HOME GAMES

HERE DURING STATE FAIR. BUT

WE'LL SEE HOW TONIGHT GOES AS

THE KICKOFF OF A BUSY COUPLE OF

WEEKS TO COME HERE OUTSIDE OF

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