The Not-So-Great American State Fair

All I wanted was a corndog.

Maybe its the midwesterner in me, but I love a state fair. I love people watching, blowing cash on rigged carnival games, and binge eating enough fried food to keep my primary care physician in business. I genuinely wanted to enjoy the Great American State Fair.

There’s been confusion between America 250 and Freedom 250. The former was launched a decade ago in 2016 by a bipartisan commission in Congress to plan celebrations and delegate funds. The latter was created by President Trump in 2025 via executive order, creating “Task Force 250.” Per NBC News, the split has raised concerns, “ethics groups, like Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, have also raised concerns about Freedom 250’s funding and whether there are conflicts of interest among some of the corporations that have donated to the group and have business before the Trump administration.”

It’s also created confusion. Last month, numerous musicians dropped out of Freedom 250 after realizing they were not associated with America 250. It doesn’t help that Freedom 250 has essentially commandeered events in the capital — even the national fireworks.

The Great American State Fair? That’s Freedom 250’s project.

After collecting my media credentials, I made my way into the fair. I was on the lookout for just one thing — the food.

Food is what makes a state fair, the more absurdly deep fried, butter drenched, and sugar coated the better. The Great American Fair promised to celebrate the rich culture of state fairs nationwide, so my expectations were high. Carolina, Texas, and Memphis BBQ, TexMex, Southwestern, Cajun, soul food, Detroit style pizza (never Chicago), Philly cheesesteaks — the possibilities endless. The potential extraordinary.

And they fumbled it. Not only were the food vendors less diverse and higher priced than the food trucks lining the streets outside of the fair, they lacked even the core fair staples — no funnel cakes, no elephant ears, no deep fried Oreos, and worst of all no corndogs.

A corn dog is a sausage, typically a hot dog, skewered on a stick, coated in a thick cornmeal batter, and deep-fried until golden brown, making it a classic American street food often found at fairs and carnivals. The batter is a mix of cornmeal, flour, sugar, and leavening agents, with milk and eggs for moisture and binding. They are commonly served with condiments like mustard, ketchup, or honey.

So food was out, but surely there’d at least be things to do, right?

Along the fairgrounds, pavilions have been constructed for all 50 states, each given a room to display various aspects of their history and culture. The rooms are fairly small. Even taking time to read displays, you’re in and out in ten minutes. Luckily, not many people were attending the opening day of the fair. As mildly interesting as the exhibits were, I can’t imagine being able to enjoy them when the crowds thicken on the 4th. Even with lackluster attendance, the rooms felt cramped and crowded.

Outside, there are a handful of stages, as well as a large main stage where the few performers who didn’t drop out will play throughout the week. A single Ferris Wheel has been erected, but was not yet in operation. A large, fenced in enclosure will supposedly host a rodeo at some point this week, but finding a schedule of events online is a bitch. The official Freedom 250 website is a mess.

I left the fair feeling disappointed. Sure, I don’t place much faith in the Trump administration to get anything right — but there’s a part of me that really wanted to enjoy the celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary. It’s a historic moment, and I have the privilege to live in the nation’s capital for it.

Worse, the fair could have been something spectacular. Upon arriving back home, I began scrolling through local reddit pages to see how people were feeling about the fair, when I stumbled on this comment;

I worked at Smithsonian, specifically raising money for 250th. What I want people to know is we secured millions of private philanthropy to host a month long Folklife Festival on the mall, “The Festival of Festivals”. Was going to feature well known festivals, think Burning Man, Farm Aid, Grand Ole Oprey etc. as well as smaller local and regional festivals from across the U.S. and territories. Goal was to feature truly the best and most beautiful creative expression in music, dance, arts and craft traditions, food, community etc. Can’t name names but plan was to have headliners every night for free concerts…. Think the types of names who might be affiliated with the aforementioned large festivals. Stars were willing to perform because was under banner of Smithsonian. It had to all be scrapped bc the administration would not release permits to host on the mall. The money went elsewhere, but our nation was robbed of what would have been a once in a generation cultural moment.

The comment tracks with reporting on the cancellation of the Folklife Festival (a DC staple that’s been running since 1967). Leading up to the 250th, the Trump administration butted heads with the Smithsonian over numerous plans, even museum exhibits celebrating our founding. Per the New York Times;

Plans for the festival on the Mall remained in play until at least last spring. The Smithsonian’s 2026 budget justification, submitted to Congress last May, cited plans for an “expanded edition” that would “activate the National Mall for one month” by bringing smaller festivals from around the country to Washington.

The event would have been something of a callback to the 1976 Bicentennial, when the festival lasted 12 weeks and drew 4.5 million visitors to the Mall to sample offerings that reflected the country’s myriad regions, ethnic groups and cultural traditions.

But this year, the task of summing up American culture and identity on the Mall will be taken up by the Great American State Fair, a plan Mr. Trump first announced on the campaign trail in 2023.

Part of me hopes the fair gets it together over the next week, if nothing else, I am determined to get that fucking corndog. Regardless, Freedom 250 appears to have overtaken what would have been a once in a life time cultural event.

Stay tuned — I’ll be reporting from the ground not only on Freedom 250, but numerous protest actions across DC this week. If you want in on the action, you can find details here.