A bumpy beginning for the Great American State Fair

The Great American State Fair, a 16-day celebration of the nation on the National Mall that opened Thursday, had a less-than-great beginning.

Thirty minutes after gates were meant to open to the free event, small crowds were still waiting outside security entrances as organizers sorted out power outages and moved the last of the construction material out of view.

Visitors were eventually allowed in, but problems continued to nag the fair throughout the day. At the food court, you could buy the Original Liberty Sandwich (peanut butter and marshmallow creme for $13), and everything from corn dogs and cotton candy, to pho and fried yucca, and more. But workers explained to hungry fairgoers that occasional electrical issues were hampering operations and prompting temporary shutdowns. The ice cream supply on this warm early-summer day was in jeopardy.

“This whole production has been running behind,” said a worker serving water who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. “It’s room temperature, just so you know. There’s no ice yet.”

At the fair’s towering Ferris wheel, that quintessentially American reminder that what goes up must come down, the rides were free but inconsistent. The attraction was beset by a faulty generator, a worker said, and operated only intermittently.

“The Great American State Fair experienced power hiccups,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Julia Friedland said in an email. “We appreciate guests’ patience, and in true American 250th spirit, Freedom 250 and our guests continue to keep the celebration going without missing a beat.”

The Great American State Fair is the creation of Freedom 250, the public-private partnership the White House launched in December to celebrate the nation’s big birthday. But the idea for it was first floated by President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Iowa two summers ago: “a giant patriotic festival … on the National Mall featuring exhibits from all 50 states,” he told the crowd.

Despite its name, the festival is billed by Freedom 250 as a “modern-day World’s Fair.” Instead of the pie-ranking, pig-chasing, Tilt-a-Whirl chaos that comes to county fairs across America each summer, this exhibition is tucked into neatly organized white boxes. Inside these mini mausoleum-like pavilions lining the Mall, visitors explored exhibits from 56 states and territories, plus brands from John Deere to SpaceX, Truth Social to Harley-Davidson.

Opening-day crowds were relatively sparse compared with past National Mall events, with large swaths of freshly manicured lawn untouched between the long rows of white pavilions. At either end of the fair, which stretches from 4th Street NW to 14th Street SW, are stages for a lineup of performers. Visitors also can take in movie screenings, attend musical performances and witness flyovers. A daily rodeo features Mexican charro performances, rope tricks and riding demonstrations.

Despite the first-day problems, most visitors said they were glad to have the fair in town.

Arlington, Virginia, resident Ashley Mele, 41, originally hails from a small farming community in Illinois. On Thursday afternoon, she said state fairs often serve as nostalgic reminders of home. When asked about the fair’s ties to the president, Mele stressed the importance of separating one’s political beliefs from honoring the country’s 250-year anniversary. “We should take a moment and celebrate this time, because, I mean, this is going to only happen once in our lifetime,” she said.

Deborah Regan-Smith, 62, of Cocoa Beach, Florida, who was visiting the District to take part in the annual conference of the Daughters of the American Revolution, said she was impressed with all of the displays. “You can tell each state spent a lot of time and thought,” she said. “I’ve seen nothing but families having a good time.”

Trump personally hosted the Wednesday-night kickoff to the Great American State Fair, but it was Melania who made an appearance on its opening day – not the first lady but a compact blond calf shipped in that morning from West Virginia.

“We were trying to come up with patriotic names for the 250th year, and we came up with Melania, which is President Trump’s wife,” said Piper Stolipher, 15, who was there as part of FFA, what used to be known as Future Farmers of America. “And my teacher thought that they had a similar hair color, so it just fit.”

The fair, open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and until 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, is scheduled to run for 16 days, each of which has a theme: Faith, Values and Inspiration (Wednesday), Wings of Freedom (Friday), Land and Prosperity (last Friday). Mondays celebrate the Make America Healthy Again movement, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – MAHA Mondays, according to organizers.

Even before its boundaries were fenced and its pavilions constructed, the Great American State Fair was riddled with controversy tied to its alignment with the president. At least eight states, mostly with Democratic governors, declined to attend the fair, citing high costs per exhibition. This included Washington state.

In an emailed statement, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, who chairs Washington state’s Semiquincentennial Committee, said the state is facing a “very difficult fiscal situation” and that, given the costs of participating in the fair, officials have chosen “to focus on supporting local efforts here in Washington state for this very important commemoration.”

With just weeks until kickoff, over half of its scheduled musicians – including country singer Martina McBride, Poison lead Bret Michaels and rapper Young MC – pulled out of the festival, stating they were misled about its partisan nature. (Flo Rida and Vanilla Ice are still expected to perform).

In response to the departures, the president announced on Truth Social in early June that he himself would host the kickoff to the fair: “We don’t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we’ve told them all to stay home. All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the Greatest Music ever played,” he wrote. On Wednesday, the eve of the fair, he hosted a campaign-rally-style kickoff on the Mall where he declared the war with Iran “done.” FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, performed the national anthem.

All 56 states and territories were represented – even those that decided not to send a delegation. Some went big: In the Montana pavilion, a model dinosaur rib cage and sand-covered excavation station prodded discussions with volunteers about paleontology in the state.

Most states and territories sent some combination of their tourism, agriculture and parks agencies, turning the Mall into a three-dimensional advertisement for visitors’ next vacations. The Louisiana booth volunteers greeted guests with beads and a “Happy Mardi Gras.” New York trumpeted its skyscrapers. A line stretched from Arizona all the way to Arkansas (two doors down) for a glimpse at its desert landscapes. Several states displayed plastic cows; the ones inside the Idaho and Michigan pavilions had rubber udders filled with water to allow visitors to show off their milking skills.

Around midday, visitors crowded the Ohio pavilion where Gov. Mike DeWine was visiting with his wife.

“I thought we should be here for the opening, right?” he said. “We came out early this morning, and we’ll spend all day here. And I do have a job, so we’ll go back to Ohio.”

Pavilions without representation from their own state were left with a stock format: Two low-slung chairs, a composition of images representing the state and maybe a fake plant. Visitors took to sheltering in these less-occupied stations for a shaded lunch.

“Not much to see here,” a man said on his way out the door of the Connecticut pavilion.

The fair also boasts eight booths dedicated to federal agencies, each of which is denoted by a colorful pennant. One crimson banner simply reads “War,” referencing Trump’s preferred name for the Defense Department. (Though a September 2025 presidential executive order mandated the department’s renaming, Congress has not codified the change.)

Inside the booth, a handful of U.S. Space Force officers chatted with attendees. Nearby, an Army soldier carefully applied camouflage paint on a boy’s forehead. A sign next to her advertised the face paint options, which ranged from green streaks on cheeks to full face coverage.

As the sun set over the National Mall, a steady stream of visitors walked the paths along the exhibits. Others lounged in the grass or in the shade of a smaller-scale model of the controversial triumphal arch installed near the entrance.

Just after 9 p.m., there was a hopeful sign. The Ferris wheel came back to life, instantly throwing light onto the darkening fair grounds and eliciting scattered cheers from the crowd. A snaking line quickly formed in spite of the late hour. People had been waiting a long time to catch the view.