{"id":733,"date":"2026-06-28T22:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=733"},"modified":"2026-06-28T22:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:15:18","slug":"state-fair-on-the-mall-sputters-out-of-the-gate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=733","title":{"rendered":"State Fair on the Mall Sputters Out of the Gate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 110-foot-tall Ferris wheel, a main attraction at the Great American State Fair for the country\u2019s 250th anniversary, shut down for a couple of hours due to lack of power. The ice cream melted, but Iowa\u2019s butter cow survived. And a display of the Confederate flag was removed from North Carolina\u2019s booth after Gov. Josh Stein condemned the vendor for putting it up.<\/p>\n

Read more Julia Letlow Wins Primary Runoff for Louisiana Senate Seat<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump kicked off the fair Wednesday, calling it the beginning of \u201cthe most unforgettable birthday party any country has ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Freedom 250, an organization that was created by Trump to celebrate the nation\u2019s 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\u2019s ties to Trump.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t sign up.<\/p>\n

The booth for North Carolina \u2014 one of the states that did not send an official delegation \u2014 faced backlash for a monitor displaying the Confederate flag next to a portion of its state flag, after a Spectrum News reporter posted<\/u><\/span> a video of the booth on social media. North Carolina\u2019s official state flag has never used part of the Confederate flag.<\/p>\n

The Democratic governor\u2019s office quickly addressed the issue, denouncing the digital display.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis flag does not represent the North Carolina that we love,\u201d a spokesperson for Stein told<\/u><\/span> news outlets Saturday, noting they were \u201cpleased\u201d it was taken down.<\/p>\n

Stein\u2019s office didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Freedom 250 did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.<\/p>\n

Attendees found the booth for Washington state, which also skipped the fair, \u201cnearly empty\u201d according to Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Washington). He criticized the lackluster display and said on social media that he decided to visit his state\u2019s expo himself to stamp the \u201cPassport to America\u201d booklets provided to fair visitors \u2014 as long as they cheered his state\u2019s NFL team with a \u201cGo Seahawks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Millions Dropped Obamacare in the First Month of Coverage<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately Governor Bob Ferguson chose NOT to have Washington State officially participate in THE GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR, but I couldn\u2019t 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,\u201d Baumgartner wrote Saturday in a post on X<\/u><\/span>, calling Ferguson\u2019s decision to not attend the fair \u201cpetty and unpatriotic\u201d and \u201cfoolish and dumb\u201d in a separate post<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome unhappy, fake reporters claim the Great American State Fair has been empty,\u201d she wrote, adding, \u201cCurrent view of @Freedom250\u2019s Rodeo 250\u201d along with a photo showing stands full of attendees.<\/p>\n

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Some unhappy, fake reporters claim the Great American State Fair has been empty…<\/p>\n

Current view of @Freedom250’s Rodeo 250: pic.twitter.com\/CtPoCZ8bSp<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rachel Reisner (@rmreisner) June 27, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Some states that did send official delegations went big for their exhibits: Montana shipped in a huge model of an apatosaurus dinosaur\u2019s rib cage, New Jersey brought a 7,000-pound sand sculpture and Arizona teased visitors with an augmented reality exhibit of the state\u2019s scenic landscapes.<\/p>\n

The fair also featured a towering replica<\/u><\/span> of Trump\u2019s proposed Memorial Circle arch adorned with fake gold statues. The vinyl-covered wood mock-up was already showing signs of wear<\/u><\/span> shortly into the fair\u2019s opening.<\/p>\n

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<\/u><\/span> Lafayette Square with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.<\/p>\n

The president signed blueprints<\/u><\/span> 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<\/u><\/span> the public course in early May to begin renovations.<\/p>\n

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<\/u><\/span> to upgrade the water treatment pipes that feed the pool after a bright green algae bloom and the peeling \u201cAmerican Flag Blue\u201d paint job mired the restoration of the historic landmark.<\/p>\n

The president blamed<\/u><\/span> \u201cvandals\u201d for wrecking his much-hyped renovation project. NPS echoed Trump\u2019s statements in court documents<\/u><\/span> filed this week, claiming the Reflecting Pool sustained \u201cdestruction of delaminating surface material\u201d and that an undisclosed portion of its fresh caulk was cut \u201cwith a sharp knife or razor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former President Joe Biden called<\/u><\/span> Trump \u201ca loser\u201d on Saturday for focusing on the renovation projects across Washington while ignoring the needs of average Americans.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 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,\u201d Biden said at an event put on by the Maryland Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

Read more Federal LGBTQ+ Youth Hotline Could Relaunch Without Its Primary Advocate<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melted ice cream, power outages, rainy weather and a Confederate flag display marred the beginning of the National Mall event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trump-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\nState Fair on the Mall Sputters Out of the Gate - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=733\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State Fair on the Mall Sputters Out of the Gate - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Melted ice cream, power outages, rainy weather and a Confederate flag display marred the beginning of the National Mall event.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=733\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-28T22:15:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"State Fair on the Mall Sputters Out of the Gate\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-28T22:15:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733\"},\"wordCount\":1052,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e22cd0b8450caf3999df50229195ff9d-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Trump White House\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733\",\"name\":\"State Fair on the Mall Sputters Out of the Gate - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e22cd0b8450caf3999df50229195ff9d-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-28T22:15:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=733#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e22cd0b8450caf3999df50229195ff9d-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e22cd0b8450caf3999df50229195ff9d-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"The U.S. Capitol is seen through fog behind the ferris wheel at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, Sunday June 28, 2026, in Washington. 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