 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Culture of North Carolina" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
TheCulture ofNorth Carolina is asubculture in theUnited States. As one of the originalThirteen Colonies,North Carolina culture has been greatly influenced by early settlers ofEnglish,Scotch-Irish,Scotch,German, andSwiss descent.[1] Likewise,African Americans have had great cultural influence in North Carolina, first coming asenslaved people duringcolonial times. From slavery to freedom, they have helped shape things such as literary traditions, religious practices, cuisine, music, and popular culture.[2]
In recent years, North Carolina has seen an influx of people from areas such asNew York,Florida,Virginia,South Carolina, andCalifornia; as well as an increase inHispanic,East Asian andIndian immigrants.[3] Many of these U.S. migrants and immigrants from abroad, usually aggregate in one of severalurban centers across thePiedmont region. Inrural North Carolina, agriculture, small businesses, local venues, and annual festivals help play a major component of the economy. As a whole, the state has formed varied cultures of music, arts, and cuisine among others.
Due to the presence of several dense urban centers in North Carolina, many cities and metropolitan areas have very distinctive cultures, with most having amelting pot of cultures and ethnicities. TheResearch Triangle Park, also known asThe Triangle, is chiefly composed ofRaleigh,Durham, andChapel Hill. It also includes several other neighboring towns such asCary,Carrboro,Morrisville andApex. The Triangle serves as an anchor for many large businesses in the area, which has the effect of attracting many secondary and supporting businesses. This, along with the many colleges in the Triangle, has created a high concentration of educated and affluent homes in and around the area. A growing population has also created a demand for independent, unique, high quality restaurants and night life, as well as a high demand forcraft breweries.
There is substantial demand for urban amenities and entertainment to match the state's growing urban metropolitan population. This demand has led to construction and development of new amenities in areas such as The Triangle andCharlotte metro for several decades. These construction projects include planned subdivisions, restaurants, strip malls, highway expansions, new schools, and business parks.
While there are several urban centers across the state, much of North Carolina is also rural. Dense forests cover much of themountainous region ofWestern North Carolina, whileEastern North Carolina has many areas of large farmland used for agricultural purposes. Rural North Carolina tends to lean towardstraditional Southern culture. Common recreational activities in rural North Carolina include horseback riding, hiking, swimming in rivers and lakes, fishing, target shooting and hunting, riding trails onATVs/modified trucks (also called off-roading), and extensive gardening (many families operate small scale farms).
A nationally famouscuisine from North Carolina is porkbarbecue andbacon. InEastern North Carolina, pork barbecue uses avinegar-based sauce and the "whole hog" is cooked, using both white and dark meat. While there is not one town in Eastern North Carolina that can claim to be the indisputable "capital" of Eastern Carolina barbecue, the medium-sized cities ofGreenville andGoldsboro, and their surrounding communities boast the highest concentrations of highly ranked establishments.[citation needed] The annualNewportPig Pickin' (the largest whole pig cooking contest in North Carolina)[citation needed] is held featuring primarily eastern-style barbecue.
Central andWestern North Carolina pork barbecue uses atomato and vinegar based sauce, and only the pork shoulder (dark meat) is used. The "capital" of Central and Western Carolina barbecue is thePiedmont Triad town ofLexington, home of theLexington Barbecue Festival, which brings in over 100,000 visitors each October.[4]
North Carolina is known particularly for its history ofold-time music. Many recordings were made in the early 20th century by folk song collectorBascom Lamar Lunsford. Influential North Carolina country musicians like theNorth Carolina Ramblers andAl Hopkins helped solidify the sound of country music in the late 1920s. Other influentialbluegrass musicians such asEarl Scruggs,Doc Watson andDel McCoury are also from North Carolina.Arthur Smith is a notable North Carolina musician/entertainer who had the first nationally syndicated television program which featuredcountry music. Smith composed "Guitar Boogie", the all-time best selling guitar instrumental, and "Dueling Banjos", the all-time best selling banjo composition. Country artistEric Church from theHickory area, has had multiple #1 albums on the Billboard 200, includingChief in 2011. Both North and South Carolina are a hotbed for traditional country blues, especially the style known as thePiedmont blues.Elizabeth Cotten, fromChapel Hill, was active in theAmerican folk music revival.
Because of their proximity to universities, areas such as Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (collectively known as the Triangle), Asheville, Greensboro, Greenville, Charlotte, and Wilmington have long been a well-known center for indie rock, metal, punk, jazz, country, and hip-hop. Bands and groups from these popular music scenes includeThe Avett Brothers,Corrosion of Conformity,Superchunk,The Rosebuds,The Love Language,Troop 41,Ben Folds Five,Squirrel Nut Zippers,The Carolina Chocolate Drops,Lords of the Underground,Between the Buried and Me, andHe Is Legend.
Notable rappers, producers, and people inhip-hop from North Carolina include:J. Cole,DaBaby,Petey Pablo,9th Wonder,Phonte andBig Pooh ofLittle Brother,Rapsody,Mez,Lute,Ski Beatz,Deniro Farrar, andCordae.
TheUniversity of North Carolina system encompasses 16public universities includingNorth Carolina A&T State University,North Carolina State University,North Carolina Central University,UNC-Pembroke,UNC-Chapel Hill,Elizabeth City State University,East Carolina University,Western Carolina University,Winston-Salem State University,UNC Charlotte,UNC Greensboro,Fayetteville State University andAppalachian State University. Along with its public universities, North Carolina has 58 publiccommunity colleges in itscommunity college system. There are also a number of private colleges, for exampleDuke University inDurham,Wake Forest University inWinston-Salem,Campbell University inBuies Creek andElon University, inElon.
North Carolina is home to professional-level sports teams, including basketball, football, soccer and hockey:
NASCAR racing is also a popular sport in North Carolina.NASCAR Cup Series races are frequently held at theCharlotte Motor Speedway inConcord, part of theCharlotte Metropolitan Area.
