President Donald Trump’s “Salute to America” on July 4 will include a ticketed area for VIPs around the Lincoln Memorial, officials announced Friday. There will also be two back-to-back fireworks displays, launching from separate areas near the National Mall.
The ticketed area will be “immediately around the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and about midway down through the Reflecting Pool,” said Matt Miller with the U.S. Secret Service.
The “Salute to America” event, where Trump is scheduled to speak, will run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Memorial. The event will include music and military demonstrations, including the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, officials said.
A spokesperson for the White House said there will be a “portion” that is ticketed for special guests, friends, and family, and the rest will be open to the general public.
All visitors will have to enter checkpoints to get into the National Mall. Officials say there will be a total of six access points—two on Constitution Avenue, three on 15th Street, and one at the Jefferson Memorial. There will be an inner security perimeter inside the the barricades around the National Mall, said U.S. Park Police Chief Robert MacLean.
Officials also announced there will be two fireworks displays on the Fourth of July in the District, due to a donation of fireworks valued at $750,000 coming from two private companies.
The first fireworks show will start behind the Lincoln Memorial, and the second will launch from West Potomac Park, said Jeff Reinbold, the National Park Service’s superintendent of National Mall and Memorial Parks.
“This is a longer show than we’ve done before—35 minutes total, and it will be quite a display,” Reinbold said.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that two private companies, Phantom Fireworks and Fireworks by Grucci, donated the additional fireworks. Unlike in years past, the World War II Memorial and the area around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will be open to the public for fireworks viewing. (The areas were previously closed because they were in the fireworks safety zone).
Mayor Muriel Bowser says she’ll activate the District’s Emergency Operations Center on July 4 from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. to make sure that resources are well-coordinated in case of emergency incidents on that day.
“Obviously, this year’s activities are going to look a little different than in years past, but I want to remind everyone that there is no better team to support and to plan for these events than the Washington, D.C. area,” Bowser said.
This story originally appeared on WAMU.
