The carnival has come to town! The seventh annual Soundside FunFair kicks off tonight, Thursday, June 6, at Soundside Event Site in Nags Head. The fair features rides for all ages, from a Merry Go Round and Tea Cups to Zero Gravity and a Ferris Wheel, games and tasty carnival concessions like cotton candy, funnel cakes, chicken-on-a-stick, SnoCones and so much more, all of it on a beautiful open site by the sound in Nags Head. The fair will run through Sunday, from 5 to 11 p.m. on June 6, 7, 8 and 9.
If all this sounds like a great family experience, it is. Locals and visitors, young kids, teens and adults, all come together on four nights to kick off the summer (around here school is just getting out, so this event always feels like the a celebration). But beyond the amusements and entertainment, Soundside FunFair is doing an important job in Dare County: raising money for the Children and Youth Partnership for Dare County (CYP).
Children and Youth Partnership for Dare County strives to help children, adolescents and families by connecting them with programs and partnerships that ensure they have what they need. A private, nonprofit organization, it was created following the second State of the Child Conference in Dare County back in 1994 to help establish the Wright Place for Youth and Dare County Youth Center. In 1997 CYP began administering the Smart Start program in Dare County to ensure that all children are ready to succeed in school. Since then, CYP has sponsored more State of the Child Conferences, including its most recent conference in March of 2024. Follow-up from that conference is ongoing, but the community can expect new developments in the areas of childcare, mental health care and recreation in the future.
Some of the programs that CYP manages in Dare County include a Diaper Bank, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Baby LINKS, Childcare Resource & Referral, Child Day Care Assistance, Parenting Enrichment Program, Parents as Teachers, Quality Early Learning, Raising a Reader, Reach Out and Read, Sea Change OB X with the Latino community, Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) and more – in addition to events and programs for kids and families.
Helping this local organization is as easy as coming out to the fair this weekend, passing the word to your friends and family, and volunteering if you can.
Here are a few things you need to know about the Soundside FunFair.
- Onsite parking is free but limited. Carpool if possible
- Vehicles are only allowed to enter from the north. Vehicles are only allowed to exit to the south. Right turns in and out only!
- Admission is free but rides and games cost tickets. Single tickets cost $1.50 each. 20 tickets cost $25. An all-you-can-ride wristband costs $30 but does not include games.
- Tickets can be purchased with a credit card. Some but not all vendors will accept cards. An ATM will be on site.
- The event is rain or shine. If it’s thundering or lightning, the rides may close.
- No alcohol or smoking.
- Dogs are allowed but you must clean up after them, and keep in mind that a fair can be an overstimulating experience.
- Volunteers are needed: call (252) 441-0614 or email cypobx@darekids.org for information.
Want to go?
Sounside FunFair
June 6, 7, 8, 9
5 to 11 p.m. each night
Soundside Event Site, 6800 S. Croatan Highway, MP 15.5, Nags Head
Admission is free. Tickets for rides cost $1.50 each, $20 for 25 or $30 for an all-you-can-ride wristband
Updates: facebook.com/cypdarekids
About the Author Molly Harrison
Molly Harrison is managing editor at OneBoat, publisher of OuterBanksThisWeek.com. She moved to Nags Head in 1994 and since then has made her living writing articles and creating publications about the people, places and culture of the Outer Banks.
