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this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2026
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Crowds like I've never seen!
Seriously, I've never seen smaller crowds than this for something in DC. Like, when I lived there the number of people just loitering on the mall on a random Tuesday was bigger than what I've seen from this event.
Never heard one bit about this fair prior on tv or the.internet till i started seeing pics of a empty fair on lemmy
One thing people aren't talking about is the insane security perimeter they have which bans basically everything other than a cell phone. No backpacks, cameras, laptops, "pointy umbrellas," hard water bottles, etc. Its made it basically impossible for a normal tourist to bring in normal tourist kit. And obviously no locals want anything to do with this.
No other event in DC does this. Street fairs, events on the mall, parades - none of them have this kind of security. It's very clearly a bunch of oddly paranoid fascists buying their own conspiracies about Antifa vandals or whatever.
This is wildly embarrassing for the ones working and those that set it up. I wouldn't go to THIS one, but if I heard about a giant state fair with no one in it, I'd be like, "fuck yeah that sounds awesome!"
Setting up local celebrations across the country is apparently what America250 is about, but Trump wanted to do his own thing and so he played up the "Freedom250" events that he largely controls as the official celebration instead.
Fun fact about the Freedom250 fair: states are not reimbursed in any way for their participation, which as you can imagine is very expensive, so many of them simply decided not to show up because it was not worth it.
Turns out not many people want to be associated with felons, rapists, or pedophiles in any way, shape, or form.
Is the PR flag Puerto Rico?
Wow. There's a part of me that feels sad, because any empty event is a weird empty liminal space. There's a much larger part of me that says who did you make this for and maybe that's why.
Pride parades have been hugely attended. Interesting what happens when everyone feels welcome and accepted.
Then also, I had never heard about this until after it started. Where was the marketing team for this? Heard more about the redneck brawl-ma-geddon bs than I heard about this.
There was a fair planned with bipatrisan support by Smithsonian. Trump pulled it and gave money to his friends and you got this.
Honestly, good. Wouldn't want the Smithsonian putting on an actually good event during this shitshow of an administration. What you see here is far more representative of the state the country is currently in.
Happy 250th, ya filthy animal!
yeah that tracks with exactly how it ended up
I have seen pumpkin patches having bigger turnout than this single ride State Fair.
yeah people love pumpkin patches. who doesn't want to pick a pumpkin?
its funny how we are the backwards country bumkin nation again.
Good times, had by a dozen people.
Not even good times from all accounts. The whole thing is utterly and completely lame.
Do you have to pay to go to this or can anyone just walk up? Because that’s fucking nobody for being on the national mall.
We're all fucking paying for this pathetic asshole to do this
You need to go through a TSA style security check, including "clear plastic bags", but it's free...
That’s what I thought. Means people are actively avoiding it. I’m sure the heat is deterring people but the Mall is usually very crowded this time of year.
Are you saying there is less people than there would normally be?
Yes, they are saying that. I used to live in DC and summer is when I would avoid the National Mall because of all the tourists. It's also brutal humid. But lousy with tourists in summer.
What else do you think they are saying? Seems pretty straightforward to me.
That does seem to be what they're saying they think they're saying. Straight and forward.
Gonna be a lotta leftover corndogs.
I've read somewhere there weren't any corndogs
[sigh] Great American? No corndogs? Even the name is a lie.
No wonder it's so empty...
Was there a TRUMP-EPSTEIN FILES (TM) kiosque?
You should head over to Arts & Industries for the Folklife Festival!
To be fair, Wednesdays aren't typically going to see the biggest turnouts.
A country with over 350 million people and they can’t find a few hundred people to take the day off. Lmao.
I think that you greatly overestimate the number of days the average American has to take off.
To be unfair, fuck em
Especially with a heat index well over 100