This article was originally published in 2025 and most recently updated on June 19, 2026, with current information.
This article is part of our America 250 coverage. See calendar recommendations for the South, the Northeast, and the West, plus more stories on things to do and signature foods to eat in each of the 50 states (plus D.C. and Puerto Rico).
Two and a half centuries after the Declaration of Independence reshaped the world, the American Midwest will commemorate the milestone its own way. From the Great Lakes to the Great Plains, heartland communities are blending history and hope—celebrating the ideas that built the nation while asking what progress can still be made. The region is where factories once powered titans of industry, where suffragists and civil rights activists fought for equality, and where civic pride runs deep.
As part of the nationwide America 250 celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary, states are rolling out festivals, concerts, museum retrospectives, and hometown gatherings that highlight the region’s collective spirit.
The Jackson Home will be making the move from Selma, Alabama, to Michigan.
Courtesy of the Henry Ford
America—250 Years in the Making at the Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan
Dates: through January 18, 2027 (Handmade); through September 13, 2026 (Fabric); Jackson Home opens June 12
Spanning 250 acres of exhibits and events, this yearlong celebration of American innovation at the Henry Ford highlights how creativity and ingenuity have shaped the nation. Headliners include the relocated Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson Home from Selma, Alabama, opening in Greenfield Village with a weekend block party, plus two new museum exhibits: Handmade: The Crafting of America and Fabric of America: Our Fashions, Textiles, and Technologies.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will play several American classics.
Photo by Luigi Beverelli
America 250: A Musical Journey at Symphony Center in Chicago
Dates: through June 27, 2026
Throughout June 2026, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra honors the nation’s 250th birthday with a monthlong celebration featuring music composed by Copland and Gershwin, tributes to the creative collaboration between John Williams and filmmaker Steven Spielberg, and Wynton Marsalis’s The Jungle symphony presented in collaboration with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The celebration culminates in a live performance of Star Wars: A New Hope with full orchestra. (Turn any of the shows into a longer getaway with our 4 Days in Chicago recommendations.)
National Pony Express Re-Ride starting in St. Joseph, Missouri
Dates: through June 25, 2026
Every June, riders in period attire re-create the 1,900-mile Pony Express route from St. Joseph in Missouri to Sacramento, California, celebrating America’s first express mail service. Traveling day and night for 10 days, the riders pass a mochila (a mail-carrying leather bag thrown over the saddle) from pony to pony, delivering letters to designated stations across the country. Anyone can track the riders online or watch the handoffs (although some may happen in the middle of the night). The 2026 event will include a couple of presentations about the important role the Pony Express played in keeping the Union connected; see the National Pony Express Association’s calendar for details.
Civic Season at Conner Prairie in Fishers, Indiana
Dates: June 19–July 4, 2026
Indiana’s first Smithsonian-affiliated museum, Conner Prairie, is celebrating America’s 250th birthday with Civic Season, a series of in-person and virtual events running from Juneteenth to the Fourth of July that encourage young people to engage with their communities.
Organized in partnership with Made by Us, a nationwide initiative connecting Gen Z with history institutions, planned happenings include free museum admission on Juneteenth, behind-the-scenes exhibition tours, a community-led conversation with representatives of a local Indigenous nation, a performance imagining an interview with Frederick Douglass on the meaning of the Fourth of July for an enslaved person, and an immersive exploration of the immigrant culinary traditions behind the “all-American” hot dog.
The season concludes with the Glorious Fourth show on July 3–5, featuring a butter-churning competition and talks on dissenting views around the concept of American freedom.
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota
Dates: starting July 4, 2026
Set atop a butte overlooking North Dakota’s Badlands, the long-awaited Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will open to the public on Independence Day. Designed as a model of sustainability and immersive storytelling, the state-of-the-art campus honors Roosevelt’s enduring legacy as a conservationist and reformer while serving as a gateway to the adjacent Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It’s also the only presidential library in the country where you can arrive on horseback and tie up at the hitching posts out front.
Mount Rushmore Independence Day Celebration and Fireworks in Keystone, South Dakota
Dates: July 2–4, 2026
For the first time in more than a decade, fireworks return to Mount Rushmore, illuminating the granite presidents in an America 250 celebration led by the National Park Service. The sparklers go off on July 3, but unless you got a ticket via the lottery that closed in April, you’ll have to watch it on TV. Instead, visitors can come to Mount Rushmore on July 2 and July 4, when the grounds are open to the general public for historical reenactments, Indigenous demonstrations, and performances by the U.S. Air Force Academy Band. There are also a bunch of other fireworks events around the state.
Under the Arch in St. Louis, Missouri
Dates: July 3–4, 2026
St. Louis is throwing a massive two-day Fourth of July party at Gateway Arch National Park, featuring performances from Zedd, Ludacris, Miranda Lambert, and Kenny Loggins. The festivities include a parade, antique car show, and a Salute to the Troops ceremony, and each night will have fireworks and a 1,500-drone show. Admission is free.
