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WASHINGTON — The gloomy, overcast weather Saturday didn’t disturb visitors at the first weekend of President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair, an event commemorating America’s 250th anniversary on the National Mall.
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The fair features food and culture booths from all 56 states and territories, as well as displays from federal government agencies, in temporary halls lining several blocks of the Mall that kept people dry while it drizzled at some points Saturday morning. In the middle, a massive Ferris wheel extends into the sky, just beyond a scaled-down replica of the arch Trump hopes to build permanently in the capital.
The arch is one of Trump’s marquee projects to remake Washington, alongside his mission to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and put his name next to President John F. Kennedy’s on the Kennedy Center.
Some of the projects have faced legal challenges, and Trump’s name was removed from the side of the performing arts center this month at the direction of a federal judge. And the Reflecting Pool, which was meant to be “American flag blue,” has faced physical challenges, including an algae bloom and chipping paint.
The state fair has been promoted by Trump and members of his administration, who have been accused of injecting partisanship into a nonpartisan anniversary.
But over a dozen attendees Saturday — on both sides of the political aisle — told NBC News that they didn’t feel the atmosphere at the fair had any kind of political tint even as Trump has tried to redesign Washington in his image and as musical acts dropped out of the event.
“It’s kind of neat, because here it’s just been all about America, and I haven’t seen the political things,” Pamela L., 59, who was visiting the capital from Virginia Beach, Virginia, for her husband’s annual birthday trip, told NBC News. “People are just being people [and] enjoying, you know, they’re being kind, opening the doors, holding them for each other, and it’s just kind of neat to see.”
Pamela, who declined to share her last name, added that her family jumped at the chance to attend the fair “because we don’t get to go to all the states. It’s kind of neat to see them represented.”
Nicole Briggs, 52, and Heather Hatter, 48, who also traveled from Virginia to see the fair with their children, said that they didn’t feel any particular political views were being imparted.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event for our generation,” Briggs said, adding later: “I think it’s a great atmosphere. The vibe is great.”
As announcers introduced Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler to the stage near a petting zoo, Hatter said, “I think it’s just very patriotic, proud of America and all it represents.”
The fair, which kicked off Thursday night with an opening ceremony hosted by Trump, was the center of controversy late last month after several musical performers who had been expected to perform throughout the fair dropped out, with several citing political concerns.
The 16-day event was put together by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership the Trump administration created to organize events in the capital related to the nation’s semiquincentennial. The group bills itself as nonpartisan and is separate from America250, a group Congress created 10 years ago to prepare for the U.S.’ 250th anniversary.
Freedom 250 is organizing several other events in Washington and around the country this summer, including Sail 250, a FIFA World Cup FanFest, the Salute to America fireworks celebration on July 4 and the Patriot Games this fall.
On Thursday, Trump opened the fair after a performance of “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood, telling people on the Mall, “This anniversary is a time to be proud of our past, but it is also a time to lift our sights, expand our ambitions and raise our expectations of what America can be.”
His speech was preceded by fighter jet flyovers and performances by military bands, as well as a partisan speech by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who derided the musical acts that pulled out, saying the military bands were “way better than those libtards that canceled on us.”
Daniela Guerrero, 25, lives here and came to the state fair expecting to see Republican-tinged programming.
“I think we heard a lot, like in our communities, that it was gonna be like a MAGA rally,” she said. Her friend Grace Guber, 27, echoed, “100%.”
“It, I think, has been very much nonpartisan,” Guerrero added. “The people showing up have been a mix of tourists just trying to, like, celebrate freedom.”
Lloyd and Melinda Paris traveled from Georgia with their grandchildren on their way back from one of their grandson’s baseball games in New York.
Lloyd Paris, 76, said that what Trump has done in Washington is “amazing” but that “I didn’t come here because I’m a certain political persuasion.”
His wife, 71, said, “We would have come even with the previous president,” as the two peered to the line for the Ferris wheel, where their grandchildren waited for a turn.
Several states, including at least six led by Democratic governors, declined to send delegations, citing financial burdens. At least one Democratic governor, Tina Kotek of Oregon, cited concerns about partisanship.
“The State of Oregon will not be participating in the Great American State Fair due to both the cost of participating in the Fair and growing concerns that the event in Washington, D.C., is shaping up to be a more partisan affair than originally presented,” a spokesperson for Kotek’s office told the Salem Statesman Journal.
Lynn Frank, 52, who traveled from North Carolina, said she was “incredibly disappointed” when Democratic Gov. Josh Stein decided not to send a delegation.
“There’s some things they all do that, you know — there’s things you like and things you don’t like,” Frank said. “But that, to me — a state fair shouldn’t be political.”
Alexandra Marquez is a politics reporter for NBC News.
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