When North Carolina summer turns to fall, an old tradition finds new life at the State Fair. In this episode, Shoresides talks with farmer Pat Short to learn about a tobacco stringing contest where participants bundle tobacco leaves onto sticks, in a process that's been an art here for generations. 

Links and Resources:

North Carolina State Fair Tobacco Stringing Contest – NC Department of Agriculture blog post on the contest’s history and significancedeepfried.ncstatefair.orgdeepfried.ncstatefair.org

“From Field to Fair: the ‘Commissioner’s tobacco’ gets special treatment” – Article on how a dedicated tobacco crop is grown for the State Fair’s stringing contestblog.ncagr.govblog.ncagr.gov.

Ph.D. Student Maggie Short: Looping Back to Tobacco – NC State University story featuring Pat Short and his daughter on preserving tobacco heritagecals.ncsu.educals.ncsu.edu.

Annual State Fair tobacco looping contest press release – NCDA&CS press release (Oct 2025) with background on the contest and the tradition of tobacco curingncagr.govncagr.gov.

Deep Fried Blog – Tobacco barn turns 20 – State Fair blog describing the contest’s community atmosphere and champion teamsdeepfried.ncstatefair.orgdeepfried.ncstatefair.org.

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