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The U.S. Capitol at dawn on the morning after Barack Obama's historic election as president of the United States. |
Phone calls are flooding congressional offices these days asking for tickets. Hotel rooms as far south as Richmond have already been booked for Jan. 19 and 20.
Washington is preparing for a crowd of 1.5 million to arrive for Barack Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration as America's first black president.
Tickets to the swearing-in ceremony won't be distributed by members of Congress until January, but here is some early information to help those who want to go and to show how our region will be affected by this historic event.
UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND FOR TICKETS
The volume of requests for tickets to the inauguration has been so heavy in Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb's office that Webb is asking that Virginia be given special consideration.
"As you determine how tickets will be allotted to congressional offices for the Inaugural Swearing-In ceremony, I ask that you consider Virginia's proximity to the nation's capital and the large number of federal employees who reside within the Commonwealth," Webb wrote Thursday to Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., who heads the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
Webb spokeswoman Jessica Smith said the office has received more than 26,000 calls from people who want tickets.
Members of Congress will find out tomorrow how many tickets they have to distribute, but Smith said last week that it was expected to be about 500 or fewer.
Montross Republican Rep. Rob Wittman's office had received 2,000 to 3,000 requests for tickets via its Web site by Wednesday, according to spokesman Steve Stampley.
Stampley said the office is referring constituents to Wittman's Web site at wittman.house.gov, where they can fill out an electronic request.
But the office expects to have only a few hundred tickets to distribute, so most of the people who fill out requests won't get tickets.
Stampley said the office would use a lottery to choose who gets them.
DON'T BE FOOLED
Tickets to the swearing-in ceremony in front of the U.S. Capitol are free of charge, and they are distributed by members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Those offices won't actually receive the tickets until January, and they must be picked up in person.
If you type "inauguration tickets" into Google, you will find several Web sites claiming to sell tickets to the ceremony. Anyone who says he has tickets to sell right now is lying--none have been distributed yet.
The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has issued a warning about scams to sell tickets to the inauguration.
"We urge the public to view any offers of tickets for sale with great skepticism," committee director Howard Gantman said in a statement.
Online auction site eBay announced Thursday that it has banned the sale of inaugural tickets on its site.
More information on inauguration plans can be found at inaugural.senate.gov.
WHAT YOU CAN BUY
While tickets to the ceremony are free but hard to come by, there are plenty of other inaugural activities that you can buy your way into.
From Jan. 15 through Jan. 24, the privately funded Presidential Inaugural Committee and various state societies will hold galas and balls all over Washington.
These are usually super-fancy, and cost hundreds of dollars to get into. Most of the balls are still being planned, but many of the state societies' balls have already been announced. The ball being thrown by Obama's home state of Hawaii has already sold out.
NO TICKETS? NO PROBLEM
As long as you don't mind big crowds, you can attend some inaugural events without tickets.
The inaugural parade, which follows the swearing-in ceremony, does not require tickets, unless you want a seat in the bleachers that will be set up between Third and 17th streets.
Fawn Palmer, a Westmoreland County resident who attended inaugural ceremonies for President Reagan in 1981 and President Clinton in 1993, said she would recommend attending the parade without tickets--just be prepared to stake out your curb spot early and defend it.
She recommends studying the parade route online and choosing a spot that fits your needs--if you are bringing kids, for example, you might want to be near a snack shop or portable toilet. But don't leave your spot unattended for a second, and even when you're standing there, beware of folks who will try to push their way in front of you.
"People will try to stand in front of you, even at the curb. You have to be very aware of these people, because they all want to see this, but they are all playing a very rude game of pushiness," Palmer said.
Palmer has requested tickets to the inauguration ceremony this year. She said it's possible to hear the ceremony without tickets, as loudspeakers are usually set up all over the National Mall, where overflow crowds will gather.
But for Palmer, who interprets history as a guide at George Washington Birthplace National Monument, being at the ceremony this year is important to her.
"We have an amazing country," Palmer said. "These are the kind of words that make it into our history books, and I want to be there when they're said."
WILL VRE TRAINS RUN?
Virginia Railway Express wants to run train service on Inauguration Day, but it needs financial assistance to make it happen.
The commuter rail service says it has received several hundred calls asking if its trains would be running Jan. 20. Inauguration Day is traditionally a federal holiday, and VRE does not usually operate on federal holidays.
Among the callers were officials from the District Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who are hoping the trains will be running, said VRE spokesman Mark Roeber.
"One of their grave concerns is that the city is just going to be flooded with people, and they won't be able to cope with all the cars and buses as they swarm the city," Roeber said.
VRE can charge for tickets, but it would not cover the full cost of operations. Agency officials are waiting to make a decision until they have more information on funding, Roeber said.
There are no details yet on the number of trains it would run, the train schedule, ticket prices or how to buy tickets. If VRE decides to run service, that information should be available by early December, Roeber said.
On a typical workday, VRE's maximum capacity is about 19,000 passengers.
BUSES FILL UP FAST
It will be difficult to book a charter bus to take a group into Washington, if you have not already done so.
"I don't know of any place local that you'd find a bus, none of the bigger operations," said Robbie Quick, co-owner of Quick's Commuter and Charter Service in Fredericksburg and Staunton.
The company's 63 charter buses are sold out. Several tour groups in Washington booked most of Quick's buses a year ago.
"They knew the inauguration was going to be big," Quick said.
Quick could not remember a time when his company's buses had been in such great demand. The only event that came close was President Ronald Reagan's funeral in 2004, he said.
Quick has not received directions yet on pickup and drop-off locations for charter buses on Inauguration Day.
"They usually come out with some pretty well-thought-out directions for us," Quick said. "I'm sure we'll get them in the next month."
Another major charter bus service, Martz Virginia, did not return several calls seeking comment.
SCHOOLS WEIGH CLOSING
Stafford County School Superintendent David Sawyer is looking into the possibility of letting students off on Inauguration Day. System spokeswoman Valerie Cottongim said he may bring it up at a School Board meeting tomorrow.
School officials in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, Caroline and King George counties say they haven't discussed giving children the day off. D.C. public schools and school divisions in Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties have canceled classes on Inauguration Day.
Staff writer Jeff Branscome
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com
