One birthday, two party planners: Freedom 250 vs. America250, explained

Trump administrationOne birthday, two party planners: Freedom 250 vs. America250, explainedConfusion about the difference between the two groups swirled this week after some of the artists who were billed as performing at Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair backed outListen to this article with a free account00:0000:00America250 and Freedom 250 aren't connected, but each entity says they share similar goals of putting on nonpartisan events to honor the United States’ history on its milestone birthday.Mark Cunningham / MLB Photos via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 29, 2026, 8:04 PM EDTBy Alexandra Marquez and Gary GrumbachCelebrations are taking place across the country leading up to the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, including concerts, fairs and sporting events, with two main groups responsible for the largest festivities.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.One of them, America250, is the nonprofit supporting the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which was established 10 years ago through an act of Congress and is led by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and private citizens. The other, Freedom 250, was established by the Trump administration as a public-private partnership by which to fund and plan events celebrating this summer’s historic anniversary.This week, confusion about the difference between the two groups reached a fever pitch after some of the artists who were billed as performing at Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair backed out, saying they were misled about the nature of the event.“The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event,” rapper Young MC wrote in a social media post on Wednesday. Country singer Martina McBride said she “was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states. Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is ha...