The Carolina Classic Fair, formerly the Dixie Classic Fair, is an annual fair held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The fair takes place every autumn on the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds (formerly the Forsyth County Fairgrounds), which is part of the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex; the grounds are next to the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In 2007, 371,219 people attended, setting a record that ranked the fair as the 50th-best-attended in North America. In the state, it has been second only to the North Carolina State Fair in attendance for many years.
The fair began in the former town of Salem as a grain exposition in 1882 (2007 was the 125th anniversary). In 1897, the Piedmont Tobacco Fair was started and shortly thereafter the two events merged to form the Winston-Salem Fair. The fair moved to its current fairgrounds in 1952 and changed its name to the "Dixie Classic Fair for Northwest North Carolina" in 1956. [1] Until 2019, the event was most commonly known as just the Dixie Classic Fair.
In October 2019, the Winston-Salem City Council voted to change the name because "Dixie" was seen as lauding the slave-owning and secessionist Confederate States of America. [2]
There were no fairs in 1917-18, 1942-45, or 2020.
The University of North Carolina is the public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC System to differentiate it from its first campus, UNC-Chapel Hill.
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, whose member institutions consist entirely of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina, and the 90th-most populous city in the United States. The population of the Winston-Salem metropolitan area was estimated to be 695,630 in 2023. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region, home to about 1.7 million residents.
Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college and the oldest women's college in the Southern United States.
The Piedmont Triad is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the United States and forms the basis of the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC Combined Statistical Area (CSA). As of 2012, the Piedmont Triad has an estimated population of 1,611,243 making it the 33rd largest combined statistical area in the United States.
The North Carolina State Fair is an American state fair and agricultural exposition held annually in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1853, the fair is organized by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It attracts around a million visitors over eleven days in mid-October.
The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a 14,665-seat multi-purpose arena, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Construction on the arena began on April 23, 1987, and it opened on August 28, 1989. It was named after Lawrence Joel, an Army medic from Winston-Salem who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967 for action in Vietnam on November 8, 1965. The memorial was designed by James Ford in New York, and includes the poem "The Fallen" engraved on an interior wall. It is home to the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons men's basketball and women's basketball teams, and is adjacent to the Carolina Classic Fairgrounds. The arena replaced the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, which was torn down for the LJVM Coliseum's construction.
The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is a multimedia contemporary art gallery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Winston-Salem Journal is an American, English language daily newspaper primarily serving Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina. It also covers Northwestern North Carolina.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is an academic medical center and health system located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and part of Charlotte-based Atrium Health. It is the largest employer in Forsyth County, with more than 19,220 employees and a total of 198 buildings on 428 acres. In addition to the main, tertiary-care hospital in Winston-Salem known as Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Health system operates five community hospitals in the surrounding region. The entity includes:
The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena is a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina built in 1989. Since 2017, it has been home to the Carolina Thunderbirds, a minor league hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. It was formerly home to the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds, Winston-Salem Mammoths, Winston-Salem IceHawks, Winston-Salem T-Birds, Winston-Salem Polar Twins, and Twin City Cyclones ice hockey teams. It also serves as an occasional concert venue, hosting Bob Dylan on two occasions, in 1991 and 2002.
The Oregon State Fair is the official state fair of the U.S. state of Oregon. It takes place every August–September at the 185-acre (0.75 km2) Oregon State Fairgrounds located in north Salem, the state capital, as it has almost every year since 1862. In 2006, responsibility for running the fair was delegated to the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department, and the division is now known as the Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center (OSFEC), which holds events on the fairgrounds year-round.
Carolina University (CU), formerly Piedmont International University (PIU), is a private Christian university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Carolina University offers both residential and online programs including dual enrollment, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. It is accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) and is a member of the American Association of Christian Schools (AACS).
The International Black Theatre Festival (IBTF), formerly the National Black Theatre Festival (NBTF), was founded in 1989 by Larry Leon Hamlin in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Serving as its executive director, Hamlin’s goal in creating the Festival was "to unite black theatre companies in America to ensure the survival of the genre into the next millennium." Held biennially since 1989 for six days, the IBTF showcases the best in African-American theater.
Durham County Memorial Stadium is an 8,500-seat multi-purpose stadium located in Durham, North Carolina. Originally built in 1958, the stadium underwent significant renovations in 2010 that updated the facility to include an artificial turf lined for soccer, football and lacrosse and a track and field facility with an eight lane track. Durham County Memorial Stadium is the home field of Northern Durham High School Football, Carolina Flyers of the AUDL and Tobacco Road FC of USL-2. The stadium is also used as a special events facility hosting local, regional and national events.
Burlington Outlet Village is an outlet shopping center located just off I-40/85 in Burlington, North Carolina. Burlington Outlet Village, formerly known as the Burlington Manufacturers Outlet Center (BMOC), was the first factory outlet center to open in North Carolina.
The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds was a dirt oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) in addition to its primary purpose as a fairground. During the times of the year that it wasn't expected to host a stock car race, this fairground was the home of the annual Winston-Salem Fair/Dixie Classic Fair for Northwest North Carolina along with other events related to the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. The annual fair would traditionally take place in the first week of October. On December 1, 1969, the Winston-Salem Foundation gave the Fairgrounds, the Memorial Coliseum, and $75,000 to the City of Winston-Salem.
Reynolds Gymnasium is a multi-purpose arena located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on the campus of Wake Forest University. The arena was completed in March 1956 after the university relocated to Winston-Salem from its namesake town in Wake County.
Kaleideum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina was created from the July 2016 merger of Children's Museum of Winston-Salem and SciWorks, the Science Center and Environmental Park of Forsyth County. Currently, the museum operates two locations — Kaleideum Downtown and Kaleideum North.
Thruway Center is the oldest shopping center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and the second shopping center in North Carolina.