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Vanilla Ice, Flo Rida, Martina McBride and Bret Michaels will headline the Great American State Fair on the National Mall for America’s 250th anniversary.
The musical lineup for the Great American State Fair, a 16-day World Fair-style celebration on the National Mall marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, was announced Wednesday. Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida headline a slate that leans heavily on 1980s and 1990s nostalgia.
The festival runs June 25 to July 10. Music performances are scheduled every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night across the 16 days. NBC News’ full lineup with the booking strategy framing places the event under the Freedom 250 banner, a public-private partnership backed by the Trump administration.
The acts span genres. Country star Martina McBride is on the bill, along with C+C Music Factory of Gonna Make You Sweat fame; Bret Michaels, the Poison frontman; Young MC, the early-’90s rapper behind Bust a Move; The Commodores; and Morris Day and the Time.
Organizers say more acts are to come. Wikipedia’s biographical record of Vanilla Ice’s career, including his Ice Ice Baby breakout notes that he was the first solo white rapper to top the Billboard Hot 100, a fact that anchors the headliner’s nostalgia value for the fair’s intended audience.
The Freedom 250 CEO framed the booking in patriotic terms. “The Great American State Fair is America on display and a moment for America to come together,” Keith Krach said in a statement. He added that the fair “will bring together people from all 56 states and territories to celebrate the traditions, innovation, music, military heritage, freedom and entrepreneurial spirit that define our nation.”
The 56-figure references the 50 states plus U.S. territories. The fair sits inside the broader America250 commemorations, the federally and privately organized observance of the country’s semiquincentennial.
The America250 organization, whose programs include the Giving 4th charitable giving push and America’s Block Party on July 4, runs alongside the State Fair as the umbrella platform for the celebration. America250 was established by Congress in 2016 and has operated across multiple administrations.
The State Fair venue is unusual. The National Mall has hosted Fourth of July fireworks and one-off concerts for decades, but a 16-day national exposition on the grounds is a scale not seen since the bicentennial in 1976. Logistics around access, security, and ticketing have not been fully detailed.
The musical lineup follows a deliberate cultural template. Each booked act peaked between the late 1980s and early 2010s, with broad family-friendly recognition rather than current chart relevance.
The booking shoots heavily toward heritage acts. Most performers had their commercial peaks decades ago, with current careers built around nostalgia touring circuits like I Love The 90s.
Tickets, scheduling, and venue maps will be detailed in coming weeks. The Great American State Fair opens June 25.
