Trump’s Great American State Fair attendees say they haven’t noticed politics overshadowing the celebration

Trump kicked off the event with a headlining speech Wednesday after musical acts dropped out of the lineup citing concerns over partisanship.

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.