Raleigh: Last weekend to buy State Fair advance tickets; rain arrives Saturday

This is the last weekend to buy discounted tickets for the N.C. State Fair, and Saturday's outdoor plans in Raleigh come with a rising rain chance after midafternoon.

The fair opens at noon Thursday, Oct. 15, at the State Fairgrounds on Trinity Road and runs through Oct. 25, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says. Advance adult tickets stay $10 through Thursday. After that, adults pay $13 at the gate.

The National Weather Service in Raleigh, in a forecast updated at 4:19 p.m. Friday, now gives Raleigh a 60% chance of rain after 3 p.m. Saturday, a 90% chance Saturday night, and a 90% chance Sunday. That is later than this morning's forecast, which started the rain chance at 1 p.m. Saturday.

This weekend

A few official events are already on the calendar before the fair:

• 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday: The Wake County Public School System Early College Fair at Vernon Malone College and Career Academy, 2200 S. Wilmington Street. Every WCPSS early college is scheduled to have a booth. Applications open Thursday.
• Noon Saturday: NC State hosts Wake Forest at Carter-Finley Stadium. The weather service's afternoon forecast still keeps the start of the game on the drier side of the day.
• 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday: The city's Game On! lawn-game setup at Moore Square, 201 S. Blount Street, with chess, cornhole, Jenga and other games as staff have them available.
• 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday: The city's free Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice Fall Festival at John Chavis Memorial Park, 505 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The city says to bring your own pumpkin for carving or painting and to register on RecLink. That window overlaps the forecast's higher rain chances.

The weather service has not posted a rain plan for the city events. Sunday looks wetter than Saturday afternoon.

State Fair tickets through Thursday

Advance prices, through Oct. 15:

• Adults 13-64: $10
• Youth 6-12 and adults 65 and older: $5
• Children 5 and under: free

Gate prices starting Oct. 16 are $13 for adults and $7 for youth. Seniors stay $5. Military adults pay $8 at the gate with accepted ID.

Walk-up advance tickets are still sold through Thursday at the Dorton Arena kiosk (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.), Gate 9 on Trinity Road (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.), and the State Farmers Market at 1201 Agriculture Street (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Online tickets are also on sale. The fair adds a 10.725% fee to online orders.

Thursday is College Day. College students pay $8 at the gate with a valid student ID, the fair says.

Wake County and Granville County schools can still use the fair's Champions for Schools codes through 11:59 p.m. Thursday. The fair donates $2 for each advance adult ticket and $1 for each advance child ticket bought with a school code.

The fair says it runs rain or shine and does not refund tickets. Visitors have to be inside by 9:45 p.m., and there is no re-entry after that.

Hours once the gates open

• Thursday, Oct. 15: noon to 11 p.m.
• Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16-17 and Oct. 23-24: 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
• Sunday through Thursday, Oct. 18-22, and Sunday, Oct. 25: 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

A September agriculture department release said this year's additions include a 230-foot America 250 Ferris wheel, two new midway rides and the return of country ham competitions.

Thursday, Oct. 22, is Smithfield Foods Hunger Relief Day. The fair says people can get in free that day by bringing six nonperishable food items.

If you have to drive in heavy rain this weekend, the weather service says not to drive around barriers on a flooded road.