‘dc christmas’
courtesy of ‘Pete…E’

If you missed out on tickets to the White House Christmas Tree lighting last week, all is not lost.  Tonight is the Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting, and you don’t need tickets to see this event.  It starts at 5 PM tonight on the Mall side of the Capitol and includes performances by the United States Marine Band and the Congressional Chorus.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will do the lighting.

Parking in the area is limited, so if you’re planning on attending, definitely take Metro and give yourself plenty of time to get there in time.  And if you can’t make it tonight, don’t worry– the tree will be lit nightly until 11 PM through January 1.  This year’s tree was  harvested from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in Arizona and has taken a long journey to get to DC (you can even retrace its progress via Twitter @CapitolTree).  The 6,000 ornaments that decorate the tree were created by the children of Arizona, and Arizonan tribal dancers and drummers will take part in the event.

Shannon grew up in the greater DC area/Maryland suburbs, went to Virginia for college and grad school (go Hoos!), and settled in DC in 2006. She’s an urban planner who loves transit (why yes, that is her dressed as a Metro pylon for Halloween), cities, and all things DC. Email her at Shannon (at) WeLoveDC.com!