With Thanksgiving over, and the leftovers dwindling in the fridge, it’s officially the holiday season — and D.C. is celebrating this week with a couple of major tree lighting events.
The District officially welcomed in the holiday season as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress lit the Capitol’s Christmas tree on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday night, it’s the White House’s turn.
While the lights on the trees may be merry and bright, the lights of the bumper-to-bumper traffic that might accompany the events aren’t. Here’s what to know about road closures near the Capitol and the White House, so you can avoid a traffic nightmare before Christmas.
When Is the White House Christmas Tree Lighting?
The Christmas tree outside the White House, also known as the National Tree, is officially getting lit up Wednesday in its home on the White House Ellipse in President’s Park.
It’s a living, 27-foot white fir planted last October, after the previous live tree designated as the National Christmas Tree was removed in May 2021 due to a fungal tree disease.
The lights have been strung on the tree with care, and soon the crowds will be there: The National Christmas tree is set to be lit on the White House Ellipse Thursday evening. News4’s Justin Finch reports on what you need to know.
Unlike the Capitol tree ceremony on the West Lawn, the outdoor White House tree lighting is only open to those who were granted tickets via a lottery system, which closed Nov. 1. The ceremony will be televised on CBS on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. and will appear online the next day, according to the National Park Foundation’s news release about the event.
The 100th lighting ceremony for the outdoor White House tree will be hosted by LL Cool J and will feature on-stage performances by Grammy-winning gospel singer Yolanda Adams and Oscar-winning actress Ariana DeBose. Other performers include Gloria Estefan, Andy Grammer, Joss Stone and Shania Twain.
If you’re already getting into the Christmas spirit, you can visit the tree in-person before the ceremony on TV. After the lighting ceremony on Wednesday, the National Tree will be open to the public starting Dec. 2, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, according to the NPF.
The tree is free to visit and will stay up until Jan. 1, 2023.
First lady Jill Biden welcomed the official White House Christmas tree on Monday, an 18-foot concolor fir from Pennsylvania.
There’s also an indoor tree traditionally set up in the Blue Room of the White House. If you remember last week’s delivery of a massive, 18-foot-tall tree to first lady Dr. Jill Biden, that’s the concolor fir from Auburn, Pennsylvania, that now takes up so much space that the chandelier had to be removed from the room.
This year’s tree was “presented by the Shealer Family of Evergreen Acres Christmas Tree Farm, the 2022 Grand Champion Grower in the National Christmas Tree Association’s annual contest,” according to the White House.
What Are the Roads Closures for the White House Christmas Tree Lighting?
The White House’s National Tree Lighting ceremony is the one likely to cause a huge traffic snarl.
These streets will be marked as “Emergency No Parking” Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the Metropolitan Police Department:
- 17th Street between Pennsylvania Avenue to Constitution Avenue NW
- Constitution Avenue between 18th and 14th streets NW
- 15th Street between F Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Meanwhile, these streets will be closed Wednesday from 1 p.m. until about 7 p.m., with a warning from the MPD that “all street closures and listed times are subject to change based upon prevailing or unexpected conditions”:
- 17th Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Independence Avenue SW
- C Street between 17th and 18th streets NW
- D Street between 17th and 18th streets NW
- E…
Read More: DC’s Christmas Tree Lightings Are This Week. Here’s How They’ll Affect Traffic – NBC4 Washington