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III. Information on County Fairs / Case Studies <br />A great deal of information about county fairs in North Carolina is available on the web <br />via the NC Association of Agricultural Fairs (www.ncagfairs.orq). This section will <br />provide a table summarizing the basic details of the existing county fairs, as well as four <br />quick case studies of existing fairs that feature different places on the spectrum in terms <br />of approach. Maps of the fairgrounds for these fairs may be found in Appendix 1. <br />Cabarrus County Fair (Concord, NC) <br />The Cabarrus County Fair dates back to the 19th century and grew out of <br />smaller fairs and a community "homecoming" event. The current iteration of <br />the Cabarrus fair is 60 years old, and is operated by the Cabarrus County Fair <br />Association, which is part of Cabarrus County Government. As such, it is <br />notable that this is one of the few County -run fairs in the state. The fair is also <br />coordinated closely with the Cabarrus center of the Cooperative Extension <br />Service. The fair, which runs nine days in mid - September and annually draws <br />90- 100,000 attendees, has both full -time County staff and the resources of <br />the local Cooperative Extension office and other agricultural entities and <br />committees that exist. <br />Cabarrus is one of the larger county fairs in the state, and moved to a new <br />location at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in 2001, a $10 million <br />facility that houses the fair and an indoor arena that offers other events <br />throughout the year from high school basketball tournaments and graduations <br />to concerts and shows. The Cabarrus County Fair features agricultural and <br />craft exhibits and competitions, a full midway, special events and concerts, <br />and both local and outside food vendors. <br />More information on the Cabarrus County Fair may be found <br />at www.cabarruscountv.us /aovernment /departments /Fair /Paaes /default.asDx <br />Cleveland Countv Fair ( Shelbv. NC <br />The Cleveland County Fair bills itself as the state's largest county fair, and is <br />held each year on land owned by Cleveland County (site of the former <br />"County Home ") in the county seat of Shelby that was made available for the <br />fair in 1924. The Cleveland fair celebrated its 88th year in 2012 with over <br />165,000 patrons. <br />The Cleveland fair is organized and run by a non - profit corporation, Cleveland <br />County Fair. This corporation has a board of directors and stockholders, <br />