RALEIGH — President Donald Trump announced plans for a “Great American State Fair” as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations in 2026.
In a fact sheet released by the White House, Trump said a “Great American State Fair” will begin in Iowa and travel around the country throughout the year before coming to the National Mall for a festival next July.
“This will be a unifying, patriotic, family-friendly event that will feature exhibits from all 50 states and attract visitors from around the world,” the fact sheet says. “Over the next year, state and county fairs will be part of the Great American State Fair and feature America 250 programming.”
The fair will be hosted through a partnership between the White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday and the America 250 Commission.
America 250 festivities will also include high school athletes from around the country participating in “Patriot Games,” which will be led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
According to the fact sheet, the Patriot Games will be a “nationally televised first-of-its-kind youth athletics competition featuring athletes from all 50 states.”
Funding Trump’s recently signed One Big Beautiful Bill will support many America 250 celebrations, including a new landmark, the “National Garden of American Heroes” park, which will have “statues of 250 American heroes” on its outdoor grounds.
The fact sheet also says that every department and agency has plans for celebrating the nation’s anniversary and that each federal building will be “patriotically decorated” for a certain time during 2026.
Additionally, the America 250 Commission has planned multiple initiatives, including “expositions showcasing American innovation over the last 250 years and what America can achieve in the future,” dubbed “America Innovate.”
Trump participated in the kickoff of the upcoming year of celebrations and passage of his landmark legislation at a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on July 4.
“Exactly one year from tomorrow, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding with a birthday party the likes of which you have never seen before,” Trump told the crowd.
