Photo by Gettysburg College Civil War Era Studies

On Friday, the District of Columbia celebrates Emancipation Day, commemorating the date in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act — an act which freed the slaves of the District of Columbia about nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation. The city has only been officially celebrating Emancipation Day since 2005. It’s also the only holiday observed by the D.C. government that is not also observed by the federal government, and every year, there’s inevitable confusion about what parts of the city will be functioning like normal and which will be closed. Here’s how it breaks down:

• D.C. government offices will be closed. That includes everything from DCRA permitting offices to DMV service centers to public libraries.
• Most parks and recreation facilities will be closed, but a small selection of aquatic, community and rec centers will be open. You can find a list of those facilities and their operating hours on Friday here.
• Trash and Recycling WILL be collected if you normally have service on Fridays. So go ahead and put your trash out tonight. Street and alley cleaning, however, will be suspended.
• For the most part, the city will not be enforcing parking meters, residential parking, or rush hour lane parking restrictions. However, if you’re driving down to Nationals Park tomorrow night, there WILL be parking enforcement in the residential neighborhood surrounding the ballpark during the game. So don’t be fooled into thinking you have a free pass to park down there.
• Normal weekday rush hour traffic patterns will remain in effect, so that includes things like reversible lane changes. Traffic lanes will operate like they would on a normal weekday.
• As we’ve already mentioned, bars are allowed to stay open an hour later tonight, so drink up!
• U.S. Postal Service locations will be open as normal.

There are also a number of special Emancipation Day-related events planned for Friday, including a rally and march at Freedom Plaza starting at 11 a.m., and a voting rights advocacy day on Capitol Hill organized by DC Vote.

Anything else you need to know about? Ask us in the comments.