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The District of Columbia will celebrate “mayor-for-life” Marion Barry with three days of memorial events next week, culminating in a big service at the Washington Convention Center.

“This is not an occasion that any of us, obviously, looks forward to,” Mayor Vince Gray said during a press conference announcing the details of Barry’s memorial services. “And I think it’s safe to say there will never be another Marion Barry.”

There won’t be another Marion Barry, indeed, which is why D.C. will celebrate his life over three days, beginning on Thursday, December 4 at 9 a.m., where Barry’s casket will remain in repose for 24 hours.

On Friday, December 5, Barry’s body will travel from the Wilson Building to his church, the Temple of Praise (700 Southern Avenue SE) in Ward 8. The procession will visit all eight wards during the trip to the Temple of Praise. At 3 p.m., there will be a “musical and video tribute” celebrating his 40 years of public service, followed by a community memorial service at 6 p.m.

The celebration of Barry’s life and service to the District of Columbia will culminate on Saturday, December 6 with a public memorial service at the Convention Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The three-day celebration, which will bear the official name “The District of Columbia celebration of the journey of Mayor-for-life Marion Barry,” Raymone Bain, a spokesperson for the Barry family announced, isn’t just a fitting tribute for Barry, it’s something he “gave instructions on” when he was sick in the hospital last winter.

According to Bain, Barry gave “directive” on his funeral arrangements to wis wife, Cora, when he was hospitalized last January and didn’t think he was going to make it.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said that the three-day celebration has been partly planned by the Council. “His passing is hard on the institution,” Mendelson said. “He was a colleague of each of us, and each of us learned from Marion Barry.”

Though Gray estimated that “tens of thousands” will want to come the memorial service at the Convention Center, he quipped that the venue probably won’t big enough to hold everyone.

“I don’t know that we have a place that could accommodate everyone that wants to participate in this,” Gray said. “To me, it’s a celebration of one of the most iconic figures in the history of our nation, certainly the most iconic figure in the history of Washington, D.C.”