From Friday, October 16 through Sunday, October 25, 2026, the fairgrounds on 4th Street fill up with the midway lights, funnel cake smell, and PA-system announcements that mean the Georgia-Carolina State Fair is back in Augusta. It's a full ten days spread across two weekends, with a Strates Shows carnival midway, a petting zoo, pony rides, pig races, and entertainment running in the Pavilion most nights — the kind of event that works for grandparents and toddlers on the same trip, which makes it a natural excuse for the whole family to get together in one place.
That's where The Pine Cone comes in. The house sits in Evans, about 20 minutes from the fairgrounds — close enough for an easy there-and-back each night, far enough to leave the crowds and the noise behind once you're home. Five bedrooms sleep 12 in real beds, with room for up to 16 when you add two queen air mattresses on request, spread across 1.2 private acres. Instead of splitting a big family across three or four hotel rooms on opposite ends of a parking lot, every bedroom has a door that locks, plus a shared kitchen and a living room to land in together at the end of the day.
Because the fair runs across two full weekends, there's real flexibility here — come for a single night, stretch it into a long weekend, or use the mid-week lull (gates open at 5 PM on weekdays, noon on weekends) to fit around work and school schedules. Either way, the driveway has comfortable parking for 7 to 10 vehicles, so however many cars the group arrives in, nobody's circling for street parking on top of everything else.
The best part of a fair trip is usually what happens after the fair closes. The Pine Cone's own game room — a Golden Tee arcade cabinet, foosball table, retro Nintendo console, and a 65-inch TV — gives kids a second round of games once the midway ones are done for the night. The six-person hot tub and the propane fire pit give the adults somewhere quieter to compare notes on the pig races. And when it's time to feed a crowd before heading back out, the kitchen's double oven and big island, plus the six-burner grill out back, make quick work of breakfast for twelve.
Fair week fills up Augusta's hotels fast, especially on the two Saturdays. Booking direct at thepineconestr.com skips the platform service fee that Airbnb and Vrbo add on top, and puts you in direct touch with the owner if your plans shift. One house, one driveway, ten days of options — reserve your stay at thepineconestr.com.