N.C. State Fair Highlights Agricultural Heritage with Annual Tobacco Looping Contest Friday at 2pm

RALEIGH — A timeless Tar Heel agricultural tradition takes center stage at the N.C. State Fair on Friday afternoon as teams from across the region gather for the annual Tobacco Looping and Stringing Contest in Heritage Circle.

Beginning at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, more than a dozen three-person teams will face off for $500 in total prize money. Competitors will be judged on both their speed and the visual quality of their finished tobacco sticks. On-site registration is open to participating teams the day of the event.

The tobacco stringing competition celebrates the historic method of harvesting and curing flue-cured tobacco—a late-summer and early-fall staple that once defined rural life across North Carolina before modern mechanical harvesters and gas bulk barns took over.

Oxford Research Station Tobacco Featured in 21st Year of Barn Curing

The leaves used in Friday’s competition were grown specifically for the event at the Oxford Research Station in Oxford.

This year marks the 21st year that the N.C. State Fair has cured tobacco using a traditional wood-burning barn in Heritage Circle. Following the competition, fairgoers can witness the curing process firsthand:

• Firing the Barn: The wood fire beneath the traditional barn will be lit around 5 p.m. on Friday and continuously tended until the leaves turn from green to rich gold.

• Mock Tobacco Auction: Once cured, the tobacco will be gathered on burlap sheets for a demonstration auction on Friday, Oct. 23, in the Tobacco Pavilion in Heritage Circle. Retired auctioneers and buyers will showcase the historic fast-paced chant of traditional warehouse auctions.

Defending Champions Return

Among the heavy favorites entering Friday’s contest are the Maple Hill Loopers. The veteran team holds one of the most dominant records in the event’s history, having secured a first- or second-place finish more than a dozen times.

The annual competition is sponsored by John Deere Boys Ice Cream.

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