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

Learn more about how the America250 and Freedom 250 events differ as artists, including Martina McBride, Young MC and The Commodores, back out of Trump concert.

Celebrations 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.