Presidential Inauguration Tickets

Inaugural Ceremony
Due to the overwhelming demand in our office for the limited number of tickets available for distribution through House and Senate offices for the Presidential Inaugural swearing-in ceremony on January 20, 2009, we regret to announce that as of November 20, we are suspending requests for tickets.  

We have received over 7,000 requests for tickets and were informed on November 12 by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies that our office would be allocated fewer than 200 tickets to distribute.  Because the number of tickets available vastly exceeds the requests, we will allocate the tickets we receive through a lottery system and will notify recipients in early January.

As The Washington Post reported on November 18, there could be as many as four million people in the nation’s capital on Inauguration Day to witness the events.  While a ticket is required to enter the area on the National Mall reserved for the swearing-in ceremony, the remaining areas of the mall as well as side areas along the Inaugural Parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue will be open to the public.  The Post indicated that extra JumboTrons are planned in those areas for spectators.  
 
We encourage you to continue to follow news reports for information about inaugural events.  Specific details about the inaugural ceremony will be posted here as more details become available.

Inaugural Parade
The inaugural parade is open to the public.  A limited number of tickets are typically made available for bleacher seating through the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC).  For more information, please visit www.inaugural.senate.gov.  Please note that the inaugural committee also has an e-mail update list if you would like to receive updates about the inauguration.

Inaugural Balls
The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) plans the official Presidential Inaugural Balls. These events require tickets that will be available only through the PIC.  Please visit www.inaugural.senate.gov for more information.  As noted above, if you would like to receive updates about the inauguration from the inaugural committee, subscribe to the e-mail update list.