A Massachusetts woman traveled to Washington, D.C., at her own expense to help represent her state at the Great American State Fair after Gov. Maura Healey’s administration declined to send an official delegation.
Donna Festinger, a former teacher from Massachusetts, stepped into the state’s booth after Gov. Maura Healey’s administration declined to send an official delegation to the event. The fair, staged on the National Mall, is part of the broader Freedom 250 celebration marking 250 years of American independence. Festinger said she did not want visitors to find an empty Massachusetts space during a national celebration built around every state and territory.
Her decision became more than a volunteer effort; it also became a political statement.
The Great American State Fair opened June 25 and runs through July 10, stretching across the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. Organizers describe it as a World’s Fair-style national exposition, with exhibits, state pavilions, cultural programming, military performances, food, rides and an iconic Ferris wheel. The event is free and open to the public, with all 56 U.S. states and territories represented in some form.
But not every state chose to participate officially.
Massachusetts was among several Democratic-led states that opted out of the Trump-backed celebration. Other states that declined to participate officially include Illinois, Connecticut, Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and North Carolina. Some state officials cited cost concerns, limited sponsor interest, and concerns that the event had become too politically tied to President Donald Trump.
Festinger did not accept that explanation.
To her, the fair was not about one president or one party. It was about the country’s history, its founding, and the state that played one of the most important roles in the American Revolution. Massachusetts is not just another name on a map in the story of independence. It is the home of Boston, Lexington, Concord, and the revolutionary spirit that helped push the colonies toward freedom.
That made the empty-booth possibility feel especially striking.
At an event designed to display state pride, Massachusetts’ absence carried symbolic weight. The state that helped ignite America’s break from Britain was missing from one of the most visible national celebrations of the country’s 250th birthday. Festinger saw that gap and stepped in.
Her presence at the booth gave visitors someone to talk to, someone to ask about Massachusetts, and someone to connect the state’s deep history to the larger American story. Another Massachusetts resident, Judith Kalaora, also joined the effort, appearing in Revolutionary War attire to honor Deborah Sampson, the Massachusetts woman who disguised herself as a man to serve in the Continental Army.
The image was powerful: two women standing in for a state government that chose not to be there.
For supporters of the boycott, the decision reflected legitimate concerns. The fair has been criticized by some Democrats and civic groups as too partisan, especially because of Trump’s visible role in the Freedom 250 effort. Reuters reported that seven Democratic-led states declined to send official delegations, even as organizers said every state would still be represented. A Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that many Americans believe the 250th anniversary celebrations have become too political.
That tension sits at the heart of the story.
America’s 250th birthday was meant to be a rare moment of national reflection. Instead, the celebration has become another battleground in the country’s larger political divide. State booths, fair food, Ferris wheels and patriotic exhibits are now wrapped in questions about partisanship, taxpayer money and who gets to define American pride.
Festinger’s move cuts through that debate in a simple way. She went because she believed Massachusetts should be seen. She went because she believed ordinary residents did not need permission from political leaders to celebrate their state or country. She went because an empty booth, in her view, would have said the wrong thing.
For many visitors, her presence may have been more memorable than an official display. A polished state exhibit can show tourism brochures, food samples, and historic facts. But a resident who paid her own way to stand there tells a different story. It says civic pride still lives at the individual level, even when government leaders decide to stay home.
The debate over the Great American State Fair will likely continue through the July Fourth holiday and beyond. Critics will keep arguing that the event has become too closely tied to Trump. Supporters will say the country’s 250th anniversary should rise above party politics. State officials will defend their spending choices. Political opponents will use those choices as campaign material.
Amid all of that noise, Festinger’s action gives the story a human center.
She was not a governor. She was not a campaign official. She was not a national figure. She was a Massachusetts woman who saw an empty space and decided it should not stay empty.
That is why the story is gaining attention. It is about who shows up when institutions do not. It is about whether national pride can still feel personal in a divided country. And it is about a state with a revolutionary past, represented not by its government but by citizens who believed the moment was too important to ignore.
