US begins 16-day celebration of its 250th anniversary with 'Great American State Fair' in Washington

"The Great American State Fair" was was underway on Friday (June 26) featuring a 10-foot (33.5-meter) Ferris wheel on Washington's National Mall as part of a 16-day celebration of the country's 250th anniversary.

Much of the 1.5-mile (2.5-km) promenade linking the U.S. Capitol with the Washington Monument features a tribute to the 50 U.S. states that make up the union. The fair is part of the lead up to the July 4 Independence Day holiday, which commemorates the American colonists' Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1776.

Pavilions set up along the Mall, between museums of the Smithsonian Institution feature information on each participating state. 

Seven U.S. states -- all with Democratic governors -- declined to send official delegations to the fair, though the event's Freedom 250 organizers said all 50 would be represented.

Freedom 250 is a public-private partnership created by the White House to coordinate celebrations of the U.S. 250th anniversary alongside federal agencies.

U.S. President Donald Trump has faced criticism for promoting what civil rights advocates say is a revisionist history that downplays critical parts of the country's past such as slavery, the abuse of Native Americans and the negative impacts of U.S. foreign policy.

That was evident at the fair which hardly had any mention of those chapters of U.S. history. Trump has said that before his presidency, there was excessive focus on those issues.

USA 250 spokesperson Julia Friedland told Reuters "250  years, as a nation, we know it hasn't been perfect, but we're still here today because it's the greatest experiment in democracy that ever was."

Attendees of the Great American State Fair expressed enthusiasm about the festivities surrounding the USA's 250th birthday celebrations.

-Production: Greg Savoy, Kia Johnson, Writing Kia Johnson and Kanishka Singh, Editing: Kia Johnson/Reuters