The fair is held on a hundred-acre plot of land just outside the city limits of Fairbanks, in the approximate center of College Road.

It features amusement rides, food concessions, competitive exhibits, contests and live performances.

Experimental agronomist George William Gasser [5] and local real estate businessman and homesteading farmer Harry Markley Badger were instrumental in forming the not-for-profit Tanana Valley Fair Association.

All fairs since 1952 have been held at the current location, on land which the association originally leased from the University of Alaska.

The associated Tanana Valley Farmer's Market was founded in 1978 as a means for fair exhibitors to sell their produce and goods.