Great American State Fair Pushes Through Partisanship and Steamy Weather With or Without a Crowd

Despite at least 10 states opting out of sending official delegates to the Great American State Fair, visitors attending the National Mall this weekend were greeted with American greats from rodeos and ferris wheels to flyovers and motorcar displays.But sadly, guests got no Vanilla Ice. Earlier this month, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington all said they would skip the festivities in celebration of America’s 250th birthday, either due to financial reasons or to stick it to President Trump, whom they accused of politicizing the three-weeklong event.A concert series that had been mostly abandoned by celebrities who said they too feared the event was too political was replaced by a rodeo. One of the leaders of the Freedom 250 organization, which put together the event, Rachel Reiser, said despite the boycotts, the organizers “worked closely with everyone from purple, blue, & red states to American companies, large & small.”The Freedom 250 organization paid for the 56 state and territory booths, but not for staffing or displays to be shared in the pavilion-like displays typical of old-timey state fairs. Several of the states’ booths featured historical tales and geographical landmarks. With some states bailing, privately funded volunteers took the lead to represent their states. Not everyone likened the event to a political rally. In the Pennsylvania pavilion, which originally sat empty, the state’s U.S. senators, Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dave McCormick, jumped in to share booth duty.For states that opted out, other lawmakers jumped in. “Unfortunately Governor Bob Ferguson chose NOT to have Washington State officially participate in THE GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR, but I couldn’t let this stand, so I came down to man the nearly empty booth and show that not everyone in our state puts politics before celebrating our country,” Congressman Michael Baumgartner, a Republican from the eastern side of the state, said on X. “Fun to stamp the ‘passports’ — as long as everyone said ‘Go Sea Hawks.’” For North Carolina, the decision to leave the display to individual boosters turned out poorly when someone shared an image of the Confederate flag overtop the state flag. It was quickly taken down by volunteers, who told the Washington Post that it was not sanctioned. That did not satisfy Mt. Olives Pickles, one of the sponsors for the state pavilion, which backed out in response.“We were unaware that an image of the Confederate flag was included in a video as part of this exhibit, and we have withdrawn our participation. Our company stands on values of human dignity, opportunity, and freedom,” said the pickle company on X. New Jersey was represented solely by Cape May County; one conservative attorney, Payton Alexander, who dropped in called the fair “surprisingly cute and fun.”“The Jersey tent was exclusively represented by Cape May County (because the governor refused to participate). Cape May is about to get our tourist money!” Mr. Alexander said.By midafternoon on Friday, the organizing committee for the fair warned that inclement weather in the Metropolitan DC area meant closing the fair as well as the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Fan Zone at the nearby Ellipse. The group encouraged attendees to seek shelter as the group monitored weather conditions. One of the few artists who did not pull out last month of the festivities following complaints the fair was being politicized was cancelled due to poor weather even though the storm, typical of the city, never materialized. 1990s rapper Vanilla Ice, whose real name is Robert Matthew Van Winkle, told Fox News that the invitation to perform alone was reason enough.“I’m a musician, we’re supposed to bring people together,” he said, praising the military servicemembers and first responders who got the country to where it is today. “This is 250. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”While the president has insisted that crowd numbers are far higher than is evident on the ground, even Superman Dean Cain couldn’t put a shine on the fair’s attendance. The conservative actor shared a photo from atop the ferris wheel that showed a mostly empty lawn. When people mocked the image for revealing a seemingly small crowd, Mr. Cain responded that thousands of people were in attendance, but not all were visible from his view.With the fair running from last Thursday through July 10, conservative commentator Bill Mitchell, who claimed the majority Democratic city didn’t come down to populate the grounds, said he expected the president’s fans to swell the lawn as the date gets closer to July 4.“Hotel rooms in DC start at $400 a night. Most people coming to DC are coming for the 4th celebration. Would you be willing to drop $2800 on hotel rooms just to go to a fair? Me neither,” he said.As storms and sweltering heat are forecast for the week leading up to a parade and the traditional fireworks display on the 4th, the mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, was holding a Monday meeting to discuss public safety, road closures, security, and preparedness for the extreme weather.

Great American State Fair Pushes Through Partisanship and Steamy Weather With or Without a Crowd

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