The PNE fair is held at Hastings Park, beginning in mid-to-late August and ending in early September, usually Labour Day, and in mid-December until Christmas.

[3] However, the city council eventually conceded to the VEA's request and granted the association a 5-year lease to host a fair at Hastings Park in 1909.

[3] The biggest attractions of the two-week fair are its numerous shops, stalls, performances, a nightly fireworks show, and the exhibition's Prize Home.

[5] During this time, the exhibition barns that were used to house livestock, were used as processing centres for interned Japanese Canadians from all over British Columbia.

[4] The highest attendance at the fair was recorded in 1986, with 1.1 million guests visiting the PNE,[2] most likely due to Expo 86 that was occurring at the time.

Although land was purchased in Surrey that was to become the fair's new home, the PNE has since transferred ownership from the province to the City of Vancouver and will remain at Hastings Park.

[8] It returned in 2021 with a smaller version of the fair with limited capacity [9] In the early hours of February 20, 2022, a major fire broke out on PNE grounds, where multiple vehicles, tools and equipment, and buildings were destroyed as a result.

On the second day of the festival fights broke out inside and outside the venue, and vandalism occurred when concert-goers became hostile following an announcement that the headliner, American rapper Lil-Baby, would not be taking the stage.

The PNE Forum is a 4,200 square metres (45,000 sq ft) exhibition facility that is used for large displays and trade shows.

[14] Rollerland is a 1,840 square metres (19,800 sq ft) exhibition, banquet hall and venue for the Terminal City Roller Derby.

The PNE grounds also features an amphitheatre with bench-style seating for 4,500 visitors,[14] and an outdoor event venue named the Freedom Mobile Arch, to be opened in 2026.

[15] Other buildings on the PNE grounds includes the Livestock Barns, a large multi-use facility, and the organization's administrative offices.