There were many attractions to entertain visitors of the fair. The "Zone" was a 65-acre amusement/concession area, with days' worth of entertainment. People could also visit the actual Liberty Bell (on loan from Philadelphia), have their fortune told by a gypsy palm-reader, take a ride in a biplane over the Bay , and see the day's news headlines typed out on a giant Underwood typewriter.

There were thousands of exhibitors at the fair, from state and country exhibits, to manufacturing and production exhibits, to scientific and medical exhibits. Here is a bit of information on a few exhibits in the Palace of Varied Industries and photos showing the Hills Brothers and Sperry Flour exhibits.

And at the end of the evening, visitors could enjoy one of the spectacular nightly fireworks presentations, while sampling foods from several coutries around the world (foreign cousine being being much harder to come by than it is in San Francisco today).

There was so much to do at the PPIE, that it's not surprising how many people would return repeatedly during the course of the year to absorb as much as they could from the fair. (See example season ticket books.)