DALTON, Ga. — The smell of sugary fried funnel cakes and roasted sausage wafted over the North Georgia Fairgrounds on Thursday evening.
The 62nd annual North Georgia Agricultural Fair officially opened and will run for 10 days. More than 40,000 people are expected to take in the rides, eat the food and enjoy the sights, officials say.
“There are fairs all over, but ours is one of the biggest,” said fair manager Larry Thomas.
Sixty fair rides, a beauty pageant, livestock shows, a petting zoo and countless food vendors pepper the landscape this year, but the big attraction is something a bit wilder.
“We’re really proud to have North America’s largest traveling wild bear show,” Thomas said. “That’s really our big thing this year.”
The event also will feature wrestling competitions each Thursday and Saturday night.
Admission to the fair is $6 for adults, $3 for children ages 4 to 12 and children under 3 are allowed in for free with an adult. Rides are extra, but there is a Sunday unlimited ride special for $15 from 1-6 p.m.
On Thursday, hours after the gates opened, families roamed the midway, candy apples in hand, faces buried in cotton candy.
Sarah Parker and her family just relocated to North Georgia from New Jersey and the fair was one of their first entertainment stops.
“And I told my daughter about fairs in the South, so we had to come,” said Parker, who brought her 13-year-old daughter, Jalissa Miller.
“It’s just like I remember them as a kid.”