Landmark birthdays call for special celebrations, and America’s 250th birthday party will last all year long.
The country will kick off its 250th anniversary in 2026 with plenty of fanfare, and Dublin will be celebrating right along with it. With themed months and activities galore, the new year will welcome a year-long celebration.
Joining the party
The planning process in Dublin started roughly one year ago when members of the Dublin America 250 Planning Committee met last winter.
The committee is comprised of several groups, including governmental entities such as the City of Dublin and Washington Township as well as local organizations such as the Dublin Historical Society and Dublin Arts Council.
Those partners have worked together to adapt America 250’s and America 250-Ohio’s monthly themes to reflect Dublin’s culture and happenings so the community can commemorate the occasion for all of 2026.
“What we’re trying to do is kind of make it an all-year thing,” says Alison LeRoy, events director for the City of Dublin. “So, I use the example of the Irish Festival. We (America250 events) started this year, and we had a presentation on the Irish and the Revolutionary War leading up.”
Visit Dublin has also been one of the organizations involved in Dublin’s America 250 Planning Committee. Visit Dublin Marketing Director Sara Blatnik emphasizes how important community partnerships are in incorporating this anniversary into citywide initiatives.
“One of the really cool things about Dublin that is not the same in every community is how collaborative we are,” Blatnik says. “Anytime we can bring all of these organizations to the table and do something together… it just makes it that much better and more successful.”
Visit Dublin plans to weave the theme into other beloved community traditions such as the Fourth of July and Cinema Saturdays while also promoting partner events like the Abbey Theater’s production of 1776, the Dublin Historical Society’s Speaker Series and the Dublin Arts Council’s place on the Ohio Creativity Trail.
The anniversary provides an opportunity for local businesses throughout the community to get involved, including local restaurants and bars.
“We’re going to encourage our partners to create things specifically for America 250… (things) that match up with their brand and what they offer, so that they can take part in this kind of bigger promotion and get some foot traffic to their businesses,” Blatnik says.
Many organizations are still planning how they will commemorate the anniversary, but here’s a sneak peek at what a few partners have in store.
Dublin Arts Council
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The Dublin Arts Council will join in on America 250 celebrations, and its public artwork, “Watch House and Circle Mound,” will be featured on the Ohio Creativity Trail. Part of the America 250–Ohio “Trails & Tales” initiative, the Ohio Creativity Trail is a statewide driving trail connecting more than 100 destinations that showcase Ohio’s rich legacy.
In 1998, artist Todd Slaughter crafted a spherical observatory placed on the top of a 220-foot-diameter earthen mound located in Coffman Park. The piece unveils new layers of itself as the viewer walks through the artwork.
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Viewers can gaze through the cutouts on the copper dome to see sky and look down to spot prairie grass and sunflowers in the center of the sunken mound, a reference to the crops of the Hopewell Native Americans. Through these different perspectives, viewers can stand in the past while looking up to the future.
“He was really taking into account the history of what the land used to be, and he made his artwork into a symbol of the connection between the native and modern cultures of the community,” Raygan Barrett, Dublin Arts Council director of design and marketing, says. “So, we felt like that was a really strong, strong concept for the America 250 Creativity Trail.”
Barrett anticipates that the feature will encourage people inside and outside of Dublin to revisit the artwork and its significance.
“I’m hoping that being on the Creativity Trail will open up the conversation about public artwork again and give it a deeper dive into its meaning and the concept behind the piece,” Barrett says.
Dublin Historical Society
After nearly a 10-year hiatus, the Dublin Historical Society has brought back its speaker series with a fresh look that the team says felt like a natural fit for the America 250 celebrations.
“I think this initially was that avenue, like, ‘Let’s get this going again. We’ve got the space.’ So that was the initial intent,” Dublin Historical Society President Mike Jewell says. “And then, as we are in discussion with the City, we were like, ‘Wait a minute. We’ve got this great tool right here. This could be our contribution to the City’s effort of promoting America 250.’”
The series, now known as the Second Sunday Speaker Series, has already welcomed several speakers throughout its three fall events, with the help of local partners such as the Dublin Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
After seeing early success and interest in the fall speakers – including doubling the size of those who signed up, leading to a location change – Jewell and Society Treasurer Clay Rose are looking forward to hosting future speakers.
“I was shocked that we had as many people sign up for that one as we did. It tells me that people want this,” Rose says.
For 2026, the speakers and their topics will center on the themes chosen by the America250 initiative, as well as local historical happenings and ties. Some topics include highlighting a local regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution, as well as the 50th anniversary of the Memorial Tournament.
Dublin City Schools
History will also come alive in the classrooms of Dublin City Schools as teachers prepare lessons for 2026. While each teacher’s plans differ per grade level and subject, many hope to create experiences that are both educational and engaging.
One such school is Grizzell Middle School, where social studies teacher Shawn Kaeser says students will create an America 250-Ohio digital portfolio to help them engage with events and happenings around the state. He has also worked with the members of the Ohio House of Representatives to have a day declared as Thaddeus Kosciuszko Day in Ohio.
Additionally, the school plans to put together a time capsule filled with items, chosen and voted on by the students, that are meant to represent 2026. The time capsule will then be buried with plans to unearth it on America’s 300th birthday in 2076.
Rachel Hanz is the lead editor and Megan Brokamp is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
