After more than 160 years in Macon, the Georgia State Fair has moved to the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton.

This year's fair begins at its new location on Friday.

Hank Clark, a former member of the fair's board of directors, says the central Georgia city has lost a great asset.

The fair began in Stone Mountain in 1846 before moving to Macon in 1851. The Exchange Club took over the fair's operation in 1942 before Universal Fairs bought it and operated it for the first time in 2012.

The fair has seen declining revenues in recent years. The arrival of the Georgia National Fair in Perry in 1990 -- held each October -- proved to be stiff competition for the Macon fair.

Tags: Macon, Hampton, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Georgia State Fair, Georgia National Fair