Thousands of people poured into downtown D.C. after news broke that Joseph Biden had won the presidency, marking a jubilant end to five consecutive days of anxious demonstrations near the White House.

“I am relieved that there is a sense of normalcy, humility and just humanitarian compassion back in the White House,” said Malcolm Sherod, a 26-year-old lobbyist, after taking a celebratory swill of champagne straight from the bottle in Black Lives Matter Plaza this afternoon. “I feel like every day I‘ve been holding my breath in the worst nightmare of my life. I am so happy that day is over.”

The ever-growing crowd danced to the iconic riffs of Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration,” making good on the lyrics: “There’s a party goin’ on right here.”

Across the rest of the city, drivers honked their horns, residents clanged all manner of pots and pans, and people cheered out of their windows on a bright, unseasonably warm November afternoon–and kept doing so throughout the evening.

On a sidewalk in Columbia Heights, a group of 20-somethings drank champagne out of paper cups, while a couple danced salsa in the walkway to their home. Going up 15th Street in Northwest, women sang “F*ck Donald Trump” repeatedly out their car windows as they rode in their vehicles. Down by Farragut Square, a convertible headed across K street with a cardboard cutout of Joe Biden standing up in the backseat. A number of Metrobus drivers changed one of their digital signs on the front of the bus to read “Joe.” Fireworks rang out constantly.

Biden surpassed the 270 electoral votes needed with an AP call for his win in Pennsylvania at 11:25 a.m. A bit more than an hour later, the wire service also called Nevada in his favor. That puts the electoral vote total at 290 for President-elect Biden and 214 for President Trump. (Alaska, Georgia, and North Carolina remain to be called.)

Minutes later, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton spoke to the crowd gathered near McPherson Square.

“The American people are ready to see Donald Trump going, going, gone,” she said.

A small, but excited crowd also grew on the grounds of Howard University, where student groups danced around the quad and alumni of Alpha Kappa Alpha gathered in support of member and now Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

“It’s just a historic day. A day of joy and relief for us all, and I couldn’t think of any better place to come,” said Tralonne Shorter, who came over from Arlington with her young son to celebrate at her alma mater. “At a time in our country when there have been so many challenges and barriers to equal justice and for people of color and our reckoning, for someone to be in the White House at this time, coming from historically black colleges, really sort of underscores the value of Black Lives Matter. And so Howard is significant.”

Howard student Ashley Gray came to the campus on Saturday — three days after completing her dissertation on Black women in leadership — to celebrate Harris’ achievement. A history-making win three times over, Harris will be the first female, the first South Asian-American, and the first Black vice president.

“There’s symbolic history in us being here, and her having gotten her foundation here, so this is a great place to be today,” Gray said.

Still, the nucleus of the city’s jubilation is in the jam-packed blocks around the White House, where cars are stuck in the most exuberant kind of gridlock and thousands of people are dancing in the streets.

A mainstay of protests this summer, the Long Live Go-Go truck blasted the “Y.M.C.A,” reclaiming it after a year of the song playing at Donald Trump rallies. At least two couples getting married today celebrated in Black Lives Matter Plaza. An overflowing trash can was surrounded by champagne bottles.

Indeed, Imperial Wine and Spirits near Farragut Square did brisk business on Saturday.

Manager Channa Desilva said he sold more than 100 bottles of champagne in just a few hours, pointing to five empty shelves. Business had been slow during the pandemic, and the store was boarded up ahead of the election. But the tide had turned.

“People are celebrating, I’m telling you,” said Desilva, a Sri Lankan immigrant who lives in Silver Spring.

He decided to keep the store open past its normal closing time of 6 p.m.

D.C. resident Rob Sassor was at home when he heard honking and the clatter of pots and pans, and knew he wanted to head to BLM Plaza.

“We knew that this was coming, it was just a matter of time,” Sassor said. “But it’s good to finally have it culminate.”

While the celebration of Biden’s win in BLM Plaza was marked with dancing, singing, and an inflatable Trump-as-rat float, some noted that the work doesn’t end when Trump leaves office. Among those gathered downtown, several highlighted issues they’d want Biden to prioritize as president. D.C. resident Hope Puiton said that Democrats now need to work to hold Biden accountable on his campaign promises, like addressing racial injustice and climate change.

“It’s a tall order,” Puiton said of Biden’s now-expected deliverables. “Dems need to keep pushing, keep organizing. This is clearly just the beginning.”

Others seemed less enthusiastic about the Biden victory, but relieved nonetheless about the soon-to-be end of Trump’s stay in the White House. Beyond BLM Plaza, cars drove down Columbia Pike in Arlington, honking their horns as people milled about a popular taco truck.

“I don’t think Joe Biden is the answer nor is Harris,” said resident Nicole Green who gathered with the group. “But I’m just happy that we don’t have a complete narcissist in the White House anymore.”

Biden issued a statement on Saturday after the race was called and addressed the nation this evening.

“Americans have called on us to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time,” he said. “Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end — here and now.”

In a city where Trump got a mere 5% of the vote, residents and elected officials alike responded with glee throughout the day. .

“As the nation’s capital, Washington, DC has a special interest in who becomes our most famous neighbor, and we could not be prouder to have President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris join our city,” Bowser said in a statement. “They will not only bring dignity back to the White House, but a real commitment to the shared values we uphold and fight for every day in our city — the values embodied by Black Lives Matter Plaza leading right up to their front door.”

The mayor followed up with a tweet: “We’ve been waiting to exhale for four years.”

Other local leaders also shared their excitement on social media. Ward 5 D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie tweeted his congratulations, as did Ward 6’s Charles Allen (he also made a pitch to mobilize support in a Georgia Senate race run-off with D.C. statehood in mind). Two of the council’s newest members, Christina Henderson and Janeese Lewis George, are Harris’ Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters.

For much of the day, Trump was out golfing in Virginia. He returned around 3 p.m., passing crowds of people alternatively cheering or giving the middle finger to his motorcade.

The Trump campaign is still contesting the process in several states, including Pennsylvania. The president and his team have made a number of false accusations, baselessly claiming that the election is being stolen from him as legitimate ballots continue to be counted. In Pennsylvania and other places, mail-in ballots that are taking longer to count have broken heavily toward Biden and eaten into significant leads by the president in votes cast on Election Day. States will certify results in the coming weeks.

About 50 Trump supporters gathered around the base of the Washington Monument on Saturday afternoon, singing the Star Spangled Banner, praying, and, at one point, facing off a larger group of Biden supporters and chanting “No more years.”

But at a stoplight on 16th Street on Saturday afternoon, a woman stood up through the sunroof of her car, beaming and waving a Biden-Harris banner. It was pointed straight down the road, at the White House.