# Freedom 250 - The Great American State Fair **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 29, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470 "2026-05-29T03:08:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/121 "2026-06-01T12:07:21Z")
You left off “foul-smelling”. The band’s full name is “Foul-smelling Soggy Bottom Boys” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/122 "2026-06-01T12:48:22Z")
Or their local equivalent, the Foggy Bottom Boys. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/123 "2026-06-01T13:17:03Z")
Those look less like “pavilions” (of the sort that one would find at a World’s Fair or other exposition) than the game-of-chance booths at a parking lot carnival. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/124 "2026-06-01T13:47:00Z")
Trump is really just a stereotypical carnie operating at a much higher level, so I’m not surprised this is what he’s giving us. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/125 "2026-06-01T14:15:28Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Those look less like “pavilions” (of the sort that one would find at a World’s Fair or other exposition) than the game-of-chance booths at a parking lot carnival. Hard to see the attraction when the freak show has already taken up permanent residence in the surrounding Federal buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/126 "2026-06-01T14:49:06Z")
Maybe Up With People? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/127 "2026-06-01T14:59:34Z")
Up Yours, People. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/128 "2026-06-01T15:09:43Z")
Seriously, according to the official website anything anywhere in the U.S. that is even remotely patriotic is now claimed to be part of Trump’s political shindig: [Calendar - America250](https://america250.org/calendar/?view=map&date=allFutureEvents) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/129 "2026-06-01T15:20:00Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > CEO and innovator-led conversations and demonstrations They’re going to show us how the poors can be useful as human batteries for their AI farms. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/130 "2026-06-01T15:30:23Z")
I couldn’t figure out why the name “Freedom 250” made me laugh, other than on its own merit. I was sure there was some sort of TV show or movie reference I was remembering. [I just remembered, Freedom 35 from Trailer Park Boys.](https://trailerpark.fandom.com/wiki/Freedom_35) It was a get-rich-quick scheme by the main characters to grow and sell weed to the prisons, so they could retire from a life of crime. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/131 "2026-06-01T15:36:12Z")
The name is just Republican propaganda talking point bullshit, how appropriate. Because we all know that for the last 250 years, all Americans have enjoyed exceptional freedom! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/132 "2026-06-01T15:48:25Z")
In the sense that those enjoying actual freedom have largely been the exception, true. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/133 "2026-06-01T17:33:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Seriously, according to the official website anything anywhere in the U.S. that is even remotely patriotic is now claimed to be part of Trump’s political shindig: [Calendar - America250](https://america250.org/calendar/?view=map&date=allFutureEvents) Different group. America 250 is the original group set up 10 years ago by Congress to promote the birthday. Their sponsored events are technically the official ones. A lot of their funding was stolen when Trump created his own group Freedom 250. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/134 "2026-06-01T17:33:57Z")
Sorry, my mistake. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/135 "2026-06-01T18:29:56Z")
Trump’s blatant play at trademark usurpation is not your fault. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/136 "2026-06-01T18:41:35Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > [I just remembered, Freedom 35 from Trailer Park Boys.](https://trailerpark.fandom.com/wiki/Freedom_35) It was a get-rich-quick scheme by the main characters to grow and sell weed to the prisons, so they could retire from a life of crime. Which was riffing on a Canadian Ad series promoting investing for retirement as “Freedom 55”. So not very American at all! [https://jeffswystun.medium.com/freedom-55-canadas-most-memorable-ad-campaign-d7e85034a712](https://jeffswystun.medium.com/freedom-55-canadas-most-memorable-ad-campaign-d7e85034a712) ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/137 "2026-06-01T18:59:59Z")
Apparently Billy McFarland and Ja Rule have dropped out of the organising committee, stating it’s too unprofessional and disorganised and they don’t want to damage their reputations by association. ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/138 "2026-06-01T19:14:34Z")
Surreptitious Fabric, We’re Certainly Dwarfs and The Whom have all withdrawn from the Freedom 250 line up. Awfully Wee Billy Bigchin has denounced rumours that he would appear as a last minute surprise act, adding that everybody involved in the fair were “Bigjob scunners”. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/139 "2026-06-01T19:20:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > To be honest, rather than the fourth-rate musical groups that were originally named, I wouldn’t mind something like the old Boston Pops Fourth of July concerts. I’m not sure what you mean by the “old Boston Pops”, but they still do a[4th of July concert](https://www.bso.org/boston-pops-fireworks-spectacular) at the hatch shell on the esplanade. Pretty much the same show I remember seeing in college 40ish years ago, including artillery. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/140 "2026-06-01T19:20:31Z")
Curse you @Chelonaut, I was getting all intrigued about the existence of a band called “Surreptitious Fabric” (_shakes fist_). (Can’t even figure out what big-name band that’s parodying, in fact. [_… LLM query…_] Oh, I see! LOL _Soul Music_ is one of the Discworld-oeuvre classics I haven’t read.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470.md?page=8)