Every year, the State Fair brings fatty food and thrills to West Raleigh, but despite its all-inclusive title it isn’t an event suited for all North Carolinians. Some disabled citizens simply can’t access the annual event in the way most can.

Katharine Paulhamus, a healthcare services coordinator for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Jonathan Greeson, a N.C. State alumnus with spinal muscular dystrophy who started a wheelchair hockey league, provided some insight into the challenges disabled citizens face at the fair. 

“Any time there is a public event, the fire marshal has to be a part of setting up the code and inspecting how an event is laid out,” Paulhamus said.

 According to Paulhamus, there are certain standards and regulations the state must adhere to for a public event to make it handicapped accessible, however the fair is different.

“For a public event like this it is more challenging because it is a temporary event in a very large outdoor space,” Paulhamus said.

Paulhamus said the main things that need to be done for an event is for the fire marshal to measure the walkways to ensure that they are wide enough to accommodate the various forms of durable medical equipment used by disabled citizens. 

“They also take into account the population that is being expected to attend the event.” Paulhamus said. “An event that has thirty people is going to have different dimensions than an event with 30,000 people.” 

According to Paulhamus, there are formulas for calculating the exact specifications that are supposed to be followed. 

“In my opinion, the dining areas at the State Fair are the worst for providing accessibility,” Paulhamus said. “A lot of the time the individual vendors will set them up, and we cannot fit a power-wheelchair in there. So that leaves a huge issue for our fair visitors that rely on a power-wheelchair or a scooter for mobility.”

Greeson mentioned a similar frustration.

 “I wouldn’t go alone as all of the vendor trucks are impossible to reach from a wheelchair, so I couldn’t reach food without help,” Greeson said. 

Paulhamus said the fair struggles to accommodate disabled persons largely because it is out in the open.

“Something that is very challenging for an outdoor space, such as the Fair, is the walkways,” Paulhamus said. “Portions of them are paved and very wide, they tend to be at the entrances but there are portions that are uneven, unpaved and have gravel on them.” 

According to Paulhamus these factors make it very difficult to navigate a piece of power equipment. 

“This has nothing to do with the specifications, but with all of those people it is hard to get a piece of power equipment from one place to another,” Paulhamus said. “It is very unfortunate most people don’t understand or consider making space for a person in a wheelchair.”

Interior walkways are mostly accessible but getting inside proves difficult, Paulhamus said. 

Greeson said that depending on the person’s level of disability, they may or may not be able to enjoy the rides and going with a group mainly interested in the rides leave disabled citizens sitting alone a lot. 

 “If you are in a group who is just interested in looking at exhibits, animals, grabbing a bite to eat, etc., then a disabled student can enjoy the fair,” Greeson said.

According to Greeson, most fair employees can transfer disabled citizens into rides depending on the severity of their disabilities. However, most fair workers don’t have medical training, so citizens should be cautious. 

“We know what we can and can’t do and a 30-second thrill is not worth a serious injury,” Greeson said. 

Paulhamus said events, such as the fair usually, have issues with the restrooms being too small to navigate a piece of power equipment through, even more so when the event features a large crowd. 

“With 30,000 people at an event just waiting to get in line for the restroom when there is only one or two accessible stalls, it is often a long waiting period.”

Parking is another difficulty. 

“The parking is very far away from the actual fairgrounds if you’re parking on site. The shuttles are not the most handicapped accessible. Getting from the parking spot to fairgrounds is a challenge,” Paulhamus said.

According to Paulhamus there are handicapped accessible parking spaces but there are not enough of them. Paulhamus detailed that the majority of the parking was on grass lots and depending on in climate weather those lots could be a very difficult terrain to navigate a piece of power equipment on. 

 “People are pushy, and that’s not anyone’s fault but when you get that many people it’s just the nature of the crowd,” Paulhamus said.