Celebrating the Nation’s 250th Birthday!
Although the nation’s 250th birthday is still four years away, there isn’t a lot of time to get ready for this important anniversary. Many counties around the Commonwealth, as well as the state itself, have started planning for the celebration and are already holding meetings and events. One of the first questions everyone must answer is: what the heck do we call the 250th anniversary? The term for 200 years, bicentennial, was easy! It ends up that the right term is semiquincentennial, which certainly is a mouthful and means half of a 500th anniversary.
This time around, the focus won’t just be on the events in 1776 but will feature the nation’s whole history and all members of our diverse and great nation. And events won’t just be held on July 4, 2026 but will be held throughout the coming years, including outreach to communities not normally involved in the past.
One current activity being featured by America250PA is a Bells across PA event, where artists prepare celebratory bells in every county in the commonwealth. More information about this program and other efforts of the state’s commission can be found online.
