RDU On the Rise: All things NC State Fair | NC Latin American Film Festival | New sips and eats

Good morning, Triangle readers! Happy Friday. Laura Brache here with you for this edition of RDU On the Rise.

One of my absolute favorite things about North Carolina in the fall are all the fairs. The ones I’ve attended: The Hickory Fair in Newton, the Central Carolina Fair in Greensboro, the Carolina Classic Fair in Winston-Salem (my hometown). Here’s a picture of me enjoying some ooey-gooey deep fried cheese at the Carolina Classic last weekend:

But the ~fairest~ of them all —in my humble opinion, at least— is the N.C. State Fair.

And, boy, do we have all the insider scoops for you.

All things State Fair

Two of our scoops come in the form of chunky, creamy chicken pot pie over a flaky biscuit and whipped cream-topped banana pudding in a fried tortilla shell *drools*. These are two of the newest foods at the fair this year. A few (lucky) N&O staffers got to try and rank some at the N.C. State Fair Media Day. Here’s food and dining reporter Drew Jackson’s list, but you’ll also find out which food was crowned top Media Day pick.

I’ll be honest: I go to fair for the food, the crafts, the plants, and the people-watching. Carnival and amusement park rides give me the heebie-jeebies because I’m afraid of heights. But Josh Shaffer’s story about the N.C. State Fair ride inspections is (somewhat) reassuring. Here’s what he learned. Maybe, unlike me, you’ll be more inclined to try out of these 5 new rides.

Back to plants real quick, if you missed Korie Dean’s live tweets from the giant pumpkin and watermelon weigh-in, I’m sorry. But thank gourd for the internet and being able to go back to things. The heaviest pumpkin was 1,461 pounds and was grown by last year’s winner, Chris Rodebaugh of — not North Carolina — but West Virginia. I know, I know. Korie explains how that’s even possible here.

If you think that pumpkin is epic, wait ‘til you read Kimberly Cataudella’s how-tos on everything to know about the fair and doing (almost) everything at the fair in a single day. Plus, she, Korie and their editor Brooke Cain have even more tips on parking and transportation, snagging freebies, winning games and catching some live music.

I’ve had way too much fun filming and editing state fair vids for our *new* TikTok account, to some of my coworkers’ dismay. Watch what I put them through here. Bless their hearts.

Also this weekend...

Not into the fair? No worries (actually, I am worried. What do you mean you don’t like the fair?). Here’s a roundup of fun events and things to do this weekend in our area:

• Hispanic Heritage Month wraps up this weekend and what better way to learn about Latin American cultures and history than through the big screen? Check out what’s screening this weekend at the N.C. Latin American Film Festival.

• Editor Jessica Banov and reporter Colleen Hammond put together an epic October events guide, and it’s chock-full of fun things to do throughout the month. Some Halloween-themed highlights for this weekend include the Carolina Ballet’s Dracula at Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and the James Cameron - Challenging the Deep exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences.
  
  

• Visit the free West End Poetry Festival, with live events happening this Friday and Saturday at the Carrboro Town Hall and the Century Center. More info here.

• Catching up with a friend over drinks? The folks at The Willard in downtown Raleigh tell me they’re running two N.C. State Fair-inspired cocktails for the duration of the fair, Oct 13-23. One of them is a sweet potato-inspired drink called Root Awakening and the other is Fair-apeutic, inspired by those big ole fresh-squeezed lemonade buckets that are so refreshing after devouring five different deep-fried-something-or-others.

Sports!

Fall college football is in full force in North Carolina and there are two ACC match-ups to look forward to this weekend:

• N.C. State will play Syracuse at 3:30 p.m. Chip Alexander tells us what Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren is saying about quarterback Devin Leary’s injury and whether he’ll be back on the field against the Orange.

• The Tar Heels will play at Duke at 8 p.m. UNC beat writer C.L. Brown writes about what to watch for, especially with QB Drake Maye. Don’t miss this neat gallery our visuals editor Scott Sharpe put together from the 1939 (!!!) Victory Bell game.

The Carolina Hurricanes are back at PNC Arena for the season and kicked it off Wednesday with an opening win that Luke DeCock says “checks many boxes.” The Canes will be in San Jose this evening in a (very late) game against the Sharks for their home opener at 10:30PM EST.

ICYMI

A few more headlines before you go:

• The N&O's 2023 paid summer internship application is open!

  We’re looking for promising young journalists who can bring energy, ideas and talents to our newsroom in Raleigh, N.C. Know any

  rising/current sophomores, juniors, seniors or graduate students? Send them our way.

• Can Raleigh keep up with its affordable housing goals? Our Colleen Hammond found that new affordable housing projects slowed significantly in Raleigh last year, according to a new report. Read more about it here.

• Farm animals seeking new homes: We’ve recently read lots about crowded animal shelters with hundreds of dogs and cats waiting for a new home. Martha Quillin learned that when backyard farms grew in popularity during the pandemic, their owners didn’t consider what would happen once the world went “back to normal.” Here’s what’s happening now.

• Bivalent boosters and miscarriage drug policies: Our life sciences reporter Teddy Rosenbluth wrote two interesting stories this week. First, she reported on the low number of N.C. residents who have received their new bivalent booster against new COVID-19 variants. The other is about a retail giant that reversed its pharmacy policy on a drug prescribed for people who have miscarriages, thanks, in part, to Teddy’s very own reporting on the issue. Around here, we call that #JournalismWithImpact!

Peace out

That’s it for me, y’all! Next week you’ll hear from my friend and colleague Anna Johnson, our Raleigh and Wake County local government reporter.

Before you go:

• Sharing this newsletter with someone new? They can sign up here. We love making new friends.

• Want to unfriend us? We won’t take it personally. Click the unsubscribe link near the bottom of this email.

• Looking for more news in your inbox? Check out our full range of newsletters here, including a brand new one for those of you who live in western Wake County.

Be well, y’all!