Great American State Fair Off to Rocky Start with Food Shortages and Empty Exhibits

President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair got off to a shaky start, marked by sparse food options and multiple noticeably empty exhibits.

On Thursday, a power outage struck the food hall, causing frozen desserts to melt in the summer heat, according to Fox 5 DC reporter Homa Bash.

“Food hall at Great American State Fair has lost power - they have food but tell me all their ice cream has melted,” she wrote on X. She also shared a video showing service workers standing idly behind stalls in a mostly vacant hall.

Food offerings were similarly limited on Wednesday, the event’s opening day, when only one food stall was operating, according to USA Today.

Cashiers also told visitors that alcohol would not be served — citing the president’s teetotalism. The president helped start the fair by giving a speech earlier in the week. Organizers told the outlet that beverage options “vary” by venue.

“Food is one of the great unifiers of the American experience,” organizers said in a Wednesday press release. “From family farms and ranches to state fair traditions passed down through generations, the Great American State Fair will celebrate the farmers, producers, entrepreneurs, and communities whose work feeds our nation and helps tell America’s story.”

Also on Thursday, several state exhibits appeared largely empty.

Booths for Connecticut, Maine, and Hawaii contained only two chairs each, while Alaska’s display featured just a rug and a small table, photos show.

Elsewhere, visitors — some wearing MAGA hats and other Trump-branded merchandise — watched a rodeo, rode a Ferris wheel and sought shade beneath a model of the president’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch.

The fair— scheduled for June 25 to July 10 on the National Mall — is part of the nationwide celebration marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It is being organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership established by President Donald Trump.

However, it hit snags early on as a string of musical acts and multiple Democratic-led states pulled out, with some citing the event’s political nature.

During the kickoff ceremony on Wednesday, Trump delivered a lengthy, campaign-style speech.

“I am thrilled to declare that America is back,” he told the crowd gathered on the National Mall. “We are respected by everybody. Nobody is laughing at us anymore. Two years ago they were laughing. We were a joke two years ago. We’re not a joke anymore.”

Other members of his administration also took the stage on Wednesday, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who called out the “libtards” who “canceled” the event.

Earlier, FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, delivered a rendition of the national anthem — which received a far from glowing reaction online.

The 80-year-old president later claimed that his speech was “packed to the brim” with 45,000 attendees, though video of the event undermined that claim.

The Independent has reached out to Freedom 250 for comment.