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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
Location/County: Fairlea, Greenbrier
August 08, 2019 — August 17, 2019
Thousands of people pour into the Greenbrier Valley every August to attend the State Fair of West Virginia in Fairlea. The origins of this multi-day event date back to smaller fairs at various locations in the 1800s. The Greenbrier Agricultural Society hosted its first annual fair on land in what is now downtown Lewisburg in 1854. The fair now known as the West Virginia State Fair was founded by cattlemen of the Shorthorn Association as the Greenbrier Valley Fair in 1921. The 1921 Greenbrier Valley Fair was held at the site of today’s fairgrounds and introduced the annual tradition of competitive exhibits from boys’ and girls’ 4-H agricultural clubs.
August 8-17, 2019