The Tanana Valley State Fair is an event that families in Fairbanks and the surrounding areas look forward to every year. Held every August, this festival brings together all the best of the community and celebrates culture, fun, and family. Rides, exhibits, competitions, and more await visitors once they walk into the fairgrounds under the big state fair arch that greets every visitor. Great food, various other concessions and live music are among the many highlights of one of Fairbanks' most highly anticipated events.
While visiting Alaska is a truly unmatched experience, hearing a perspective from one of the state's most highly regarded residents will shed a new light on various aspects of the area that you might have missed. Fortunately for tourists, that person is Mary Shields. The popular Alaskan Tails of the Trail with Mary Shields is an opportunity to share a personal home visit with this celebrated Alaskan musher and author. Her insights focus on her famous sled dogs, but Shields also is a splendid storyteller and her accounts of various events of Alaska's past are quite entertaining.
Let your spirit for both adventure and learning take flight when you explore the attractions at the Alaskaland Pioneer Air Museum. Learn about how the area was primarily explored and then developed through the efforts of early pilots with a passion for exploration. Interestingly, they were also exploring the possibilities of flight as they surveyed the area from some of aviation's earliest aircraft. See some of those captivating planes on display, as well as related memorabilia, records, photographs and other pieces that help to tell this fascinating facet of Alaska's history.