State Fair on the Mall Sputters Out of the Gate

The 110-foot-tall Ferris wheel, a main attraction at the Great American State Fair for the country’s 250th anniversary, shut down for a couple of hours due to lack of power. The ice cream melted, but Iowa’s butter cow survived. And a display of the Confederate flag was removed from North Carolina’s booth after Gov. Josh Stein condemned the vendor for putting it up.

On Sunday, Mother Nature also poured on Uncle Sam as organizers temporarily shut down the fair amid inclement weather in D.C. and urged fair-goers to seek shelter.

Some attendees experienced a rocky start to the 16-day Great American State Fair on the National Mall with power outages on opening day, almost-empty or understaffed booths and limited food options that did not include the typical cornucopia of fried cuisine.

President Donald Trump kicked off the fair Wednesday, calling it the beginning of “the most unforgettable birthday party any country has ever had.”

Rodeos and baby farm animals drew crowds but the fair appeared sparsely attended; there were no lines to get in, the lawn was fairly void of people and entertainers outnumbered guests at points.

The Freedom 250 Ferris Wheel is seen on the National Mall from the Washington Monument during the Great American State Fair. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Freedom 250, an organization that was created by Trump to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary and is separate from the congressionally funded America250, organized the fair. Ten states did not officially participate, with some citing concerns over the costs and others expressing concerns over the fair’s ties to Trump.

Each state was given a neoclassical booth constructed along the Mall to show off an exhibit for the fair; other organizations stepped in or a simple display took the space for states that didn’t sign up.

The booth for North Carolina — one of the states that did not send an official delegation — faced backlash for a monitor displaying the Confederate flag next to a portion of its state flag, after a Spectrum News reporter posted a video of the booth on social media. North Carolina’s official state flag has never used part of the Confederate flag.

The Democratic governor’s office quickly addressed the issue, denouncing the digital display.

“This flag does not represent the North Carolina that we love,” a spokesperson for Stein told news outlets Saturday, noting they were “pleased” it was taken down.

Stein’s office didn’t respond Sunday to a question about who was in charge of the booth; earlier this month, state officials told NOTUS they were unsure who would staff it.

Freedom 250 did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.

Attendees found the booth for Washington state, which also skipped the fair, “nearly empty” according to Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Washington). He criticized the lackluster display and said on social media that he decided to visit his state’s expo himself to stamp the “Passport to America” booklets provided to fair visitors — as long as they cheered his state’s NFL team with a “Go Seahawks.”

“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,” Baumgartner wrote Saturday in a post on X, calling Ferguson’s decision to not attend the fair “petty and unpatriotic” and “foolish and dumb” in a separate post.

Rachel Reisner, a spokesperson for Freedom 250, took issue with critical news stories about the fair, posting on X that the rodeos were attracting crowds.

“Some unhappy, fake reporters claim the Great American State Fair has been empty,” she wrote, adding, “Current view of @Freedom250’s Rodeo 250” along with a photo showing stands full of attendees.

Some states that did send official delegations went big for their exhibits: Montana shipped in a huge model of an apatosaurus dinosaur’s rib cage, New Jersey brought a 7,000-pound sand sculpture and Arizona teased visitors with an augmented reality exhibit of the state’s scenic landscapes.

The fair also featured a towering replica of Trump’s proposed Memorial Circle arch adorned with fake gold statues. The vinyl-covered wood mock-up was already showing signs of wear shortly into the fair’s opening.

As the event entered its fourth day on the National Mall, the president took a tour of a few of his hand-picked construction projects in D.C. on Sunday, walking through Lafayette Square with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

The president signed blueprints for a remake of the public golf course at Potomac Park East, and drove by the proposed location for the arch on his way to his own golf course in Sterling, Virginia. Trump shut down the public course in early May to begin renovations.

Trump has poured millions of dollars into his D.C. beautification projects, including nearly $15 million for his refurbishment of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The National Park Service has begun exploring a new plan to upgrade the water treatment pipes that feed the pool after a bright green algae bloom and the peeling “American Flag Blue” paint job mired the restoration of the historic landmark.

The president blamed “vandals” for wrecking his much-hyped renovation project. NPS echoed Trump’s statements in court documents filed this week, claiming the Reflecting Pool sustained “destruction of delaminating surface material” and that an undisclosed portion of its fresh caulk was cut “with a sharp knife or razor.”

Former President Joe Biden called Trump “a loser” on Saturday for focusing on the renovation projects across Washington while ignoring the needs of average Americans.

“He’s tearing down the East Wing of the White House, making room for his ballroom. Putting his name on the Kennedy Center. Building an arch in his own honor. Even hiring his own pool guy to fix his Reflecting Pool,” Biden said at an event put on by the Maryland Democratic Party.