America’s 250th: Fireworks, fairs and festivals planned in nation’s capital

By Morgan Sweeney
The Center Square

The federal government has planned a day packed with events commemorating the nation’s highly anticipated 250th birthday, including an address from President Donald Trump before a massive fireworks show kicks off Saturday night.

The Trump administration has not released an estimated taxpayer cost for the planning and myriad events and celebrations the federal government is hosting or taking part in. Estimated costs of some events run in the tens of millions of dollars. Hearst Television has reported Washington, D.C., beautification efforts – an ongoing initiative of the president’s – have already cost nearly $100 million in public funds.

Congress created the bipartisan United States Semiquincentennial Commission in 2016 to begin planning for a grand commemoration of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. President Trump signed an executive order at the start of his second term to create a White House task force to oversee planning for the event. He also launched the Freedom 250 Initiative, the official public-private partnership leading the celebration.

Here’s what’s happening in Washington on July 4th:

The Coup de Grâce: The Salute to America Celebration

Locals and visitors can attend multiple events on the National Mall Saturday, culminating in what has been termed the “capstone event” of the America 250 celebrations – the Salute to America Celebration. It’s a roughly four-hour program ending with a fireworks display that will attempt to surpass the Guinness Book of World Records’ current largest-recorded show, according to Freedom 250.

Guests can enter the event at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The program is set to begin at 7 p.m.

The event will also include flyovers from the Navy’s Blue Angels, the Air Force’s Thunderbirds, and a team of F-22 Raptors, as well as performances from marching bands, tributes to service members, and other performances representing 250 years of American music across genres.

President Trump is scheduled to speak at 9:45 p.m. He has promised a characteristic “really long” speech, despite the heat.

The 40-minute fireworks show is scheduled to begin at 10:30 p.m., featuring more than 850,000 fireworks and pyrotechnic effects that will be launched from ten sites, including the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and eight barges on the Potomac River.

The show will be about twice as long in duration as the typical fireworks spectacle on the Mall, even though the typical display has closer to 20,000 fireworks, according to news reports.

Parades, fairs and festivals in D.C.

Guests can attend the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence, the National Independence Day Parade, and the Great American State Fair, as well as ongoing special events at Smithsonian locations, the Library of Congress and other museums and historic buildings on Saturday.

It’s possible the heat could affect Saturday’s events. The Great American State Fair closed for hours on Friday because of triple-digit temperatures.

The National Archives will hold its annual July 4th program from 8:30 a.m. to noon, which will include historical reenactors, a reading of the Declaration of Independence at 10 a.m., and other family-friendly activities.

The parade begins at 10:30 a.m. and will travel a route of just over one mile, beginning at the intersection of 3rd Street and Constitution Avenue, heading south on 3rd Street to Independence Avenue, then west on Independence Avenue to 12th Street.

The Great American State Fair opened on June 25 and will continue through July 10. Visitors can explore exhibits and pavilions for all 56 U.S. states and territories and watch live rodeo shows, musical performances, and military flyovers. The fair also features traditional fair rides and games, with a Ferris wheel and a carousel.