Orange County residents craving fried Oreos and candy apples may not have to travel to the state fair every year to get their fix.
At a public interest meeting on Wednesday, county residents and leaders gathered to discuss the potential of bringing a county fair to the area.
The Board of Commissioners established a working group over the summer to discuss the possibility — but Commissioner Mark Dorosin, a member of the group, said they didn’t want to move forward without public input.
Dorosin said he’s been hoping to arrange a county fair since he ran for election last year.
“I felt like there really isn’t something that is the whole county and brings the whole county together, that celebrates everything about the county,” he said.
The working group hopes to plan the proposed fair around five primary themes — agriculture and local food, local arts, the county’s history, education and youth and live music.
The proposed inaugural fair would take place on a Friday and Saturday in the spring or fall of 2015.
And this event would be something that could gather the entire county together.
“We’re trying to get from the very youngest to the oldest involved some type of way,” Commissioner Renee Price, another member of the working group, said.
Laurie Paolicelli, the executive director of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitor’s Bureau, said she sees many visitors who love the uniqueness of the area — and she said she thinks that’s what should come out of the fair.
“People really love Orange County,” she said. “Celebrating all that homegrown, handmade flavor of Orange County really was something people got excited about.“
Dorosin said the working group has looked at Blackwood Farm, located on N.C. 86 and owned by the county.
“We think it’s big enough to accommodate a fair,” he said. “Certainly we could design a fair that effectively uses the space.”
And owning the property already made the farm look even better as a location.
“It’s a resource the county already owns and one that has been underutilized,” Dorosin said. “We’d be showing off this beautiful venue that we have.
Concern was raised by several attendees about bringing fair rides or food vendors to a two-day event, as well as having any sort of live music without a stage, tents or pavilions.
Notable:
The proposed location for the fair site, Blackwood Farm, has a few shortcomings.
Dorosin said the farm does not currently have bathrooms.
Quotable:
The typical fair rides were considered by the working group, Dorosin said.
“To encourage kids to come, we want to have fun games and rides,” he said. “Safe ones.”
But he’s also hoping for more.
“I have this fantasy of having a Ferris wheel out there you can see from I-40,” Dorosin said.
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