Washington DC to Host 250th Anniversary Event with Fireworks and Flyovers

Washington DC will host the Salute to America 250 Celebrations & Fireworks on Saturday evening. The event is scheduled to begin at 19:00 local time, with the president expected to speak around 21:45. Organizers said military flyovers will occur every hour from 13:15 local time until sunset.

The president's new Air Force One aircraft is scheduled to participate in one formation. The fireworks display is planned to launch 850,000 shells from 10 sites, including eight barges on the Potomac River. Officials said the show will last 40 minutes, twice the length of a typical display.

Temperatures are forecast to reach approximately 38C (100F) during the day. Several earlier events were cancelled due to the heat. Organizers noted the possibility of evening thunderstorms that could affect the schedule. Airport-style security checkpoints will also be in place.

The president spoke at Mount Rushmore on Friday, warning of threats to American identity from what he described as domestic radicals and extremists. He also referenced a resurgence of what he called the communist menace. Opponents have accused the administration of politicising the anniversary.

Several music acts withdrew after being announced for the program. Organisers of the Freedom250 group, which is coordinating the event through a White House-backed public-private partnership, rejected those accusations as a partisan smear. California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla said in a 24 June hearing that the president was making the anniversary about himself.

Freedom250 described the comments as an attempt to score political points. Additional celebrations are planned in other cities, including a concert in Philadelphia and multiple drops of the Times Square Ball in New York to mark midnight across time zones.