The National Mall is being transformed for almost daily events in the weeks leading up to the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4, with unprecedented security and a request that those planning to participate in some of the main activities register in advance.
Events kick off Friday evening near the Capitol with a watch party for the U.S. men’s soccer team’s first game in the FIFA World Cup tournament.
And if a federal court doesn’t block it, this weekend will feature a press conference Friday and a weigh-in Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial for the Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts planned at the White House on Sunday.
Celebrations of the “semiquincentennial” really gear up 10 days before the Fourth of July, starting with a rally and speech by President Donald Trump on June 24 followed by daily events at a “Great American State Fair” on a section of the Mall between the Capitol and the Washington Monument highlighted by a Ferris wheel.
All of the events in Washington have been organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership set up by the White House that is separate from America250, the bipartisan commission established by Congress in 2016 to plan for commemorations of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
