U.S. historical figures portrayed by actors at Royal Oak Taco Fest
Actors perform as historical figures during Taco Fest on Saturday, July 4, 2026 in Royal Oak.
George and Martha Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere and Betsy Ross were guests of honor at Royal Oak’s annual Taco Fest event Saturday to help celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Taco Fest creator Jon Witz explained that the planning began months ago as a collaboration between the Royal Oak Historical Society and Taco Fest.
“Lo and behold now, well with the help of some actors from Stagecrafters Theater and team members from the historical society and an actor from the Michigan Renaissance Festival, we have George and Martha Washington reading letters that they wrote to each other,” Witz said.
“It really made a lot of sense and we love to collaborate with community organizations,” he said, “and it was a clear path for us to to work with [the Royal Oak Historical Society] and collaborate and make it happen.”
Witz said it’s important to recognize and celebrate American history, and “in this age, more than ever, to remember how we got here,” Witz said.
In addition to the 250th anniversary celebrations, the Taco Fest featured more than 50 food options, four live music stages and even a Lucha Libre-style wrestling match.
Tom Toggweiler, president of the Royal Oak Historical Society, said, “we feel it’s important for kids to engage, because actually, they’re going to be learning about it, if not already, but to really, really set the stage around and her parents of what was going on 250 years ago that made this happen.”
“Obviously, Royal Oak wasn’t around 250 years ago, but this land was, and it became part of the United States. That’s, we’re celebrating, and hopefully we can set the stage for another 250,” Toggweiler added.
The historical society will host a series of 250th anniversary celebration events, including a live reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, according to Marcie Dwyer, a member of the historical society that helped organize the Taco Fest appearance.
That’s the date when the Declaration was actually read aloud in 1776, Dwyer said, and 3,000 to 4,000 other groups around the United States will also hold live readings.
George and Martha Washington were first up, played by Noelle Ochoa and Edmond Guay, teachers and members of the Royal Oak Stagecrafters theatre troupe. They read letters between the Washingtons aloud on a stage in Royal Oak’s Centennial Commons.
“My whole philosophy has always been that … liberty, freedom, your culture is only one generation if you don’t reinforce it,” said Guay. “After 20 or 25 or 30 years, it’s done. … So that’s why you gotta bring the kids in … gotta be able to just make history alive, livable, important.”
Danielle Riccardi and Daniella Barrera, Ferndale residents, came to Taco Fest specifically to see the historical festivities. They laughed as Sharlan Douglas, another member of the Stagecrafters theatre troupe, brought some humor to her impersonation of Betsy Ross.
“I was looking for them in the area because we were like, we want to do things around here, and I knew Taco Fest had some stuff going on. And then I was excited to see that they had Fourth of July celebrations as well,” said Riccardi.
“We only have a 250th birthday once. And hopefully we’ll make it for the 300th one,” she said. Plus, she added, “it beats hanging out at home.”
Barrera thought the historical actors were a nice change from the polarization of modern politics.
“I feel like, honestly, we don’t have to agree on what is going right or wrong, but … it’s nice to celebrate,” she said.
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