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Like the universe itself, the culinary wonders of the North Carolina State fair are always expanding.
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This year the State Fair unveiled 34 new fair foods, from Nashville Hot mozzarella sticks to cheesecake dipped in dill pickle icing.
Here are the top five can’t-miss bites for 2026.
I was joined by my taste test teammate Twumasi Duah-Mensah to try this year’s new offerings. (We’ve also tried sweet teas and hushpuppies together.) These were his favorite bites of the day.
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Drew’s and my top threes feature the same names in a different order, while I have a couple different desserts rounding out my top five:
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This is a developing story and will be updated.
This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 2:18 PM.