The French Revolution played a significant role in the development of America’s first political party system. French Revolutionary political culture, its festivals, badges, songs and language, were all popular in America. But by the early 1790s there was no unanimity among America’s first political parties over the Revolution. George Washington’s Federalists favored close ties with Britain and were suspicious of revolutionary radicalism. Thomas Jefferson’s Republicans were more inclined to support the French Revolution and democratic radicalism. This essay explores America’s largest celebration of the French Revolution and illustrates the role of the French Revolution in American local and national politics. On January 24, 1793 Boston celebrated the French victory at Valmy (September 1792) with a succession of processions, feasts, crowd actions, toasts and fireworks. A detailed examination of these celebrations shows that local conditions in Boston, which had exacerbated class tensions and fuelled intense political conflict, heavily influenced the Valmy celebration. Many ordinary Bostonians feared that elite and “aristocratic” Americans were threatening the rights and liberties secured in the American Revolution. The French Revolution and the Valmy celebration allowed them to celebrate liberty, while attacking those who seemed to threaten it. Not surprisingly, Boston’s Federalists criticized the Valmy celebration, its values and its participants.