Congress Greenlights Washington Monument Light Show for 250th Anniversary Kickoff in 2025

If you’re planning a trip to D.C. for the holidays in 2025, listen up. This joint resolution is basically Congress saying, “Let the party start early!” It officially requests that the Secretary of the Interior authorize unique, one-time arrangements for major public displays on the National Mall and the Washington Monument to kick off the 250th anniversary (the Semiquincentennial) of the Declaration of Independence.

Specifically, the resolution calls for five nights of public viewing, starting on New Year’s Eve 2025 (December 31st) and running through January 5, 2026. This is the official green light for the Semiquincentennial Commission to start the celebrations with a bang, turning the Washington Monument into a giant, temporary screen.

The Monument Gets a Makeover

We’ve all seen the Washington Monument, but this bill suggests something different. It specifically requests the projection of “significant artifacts, digital content, film footage, and associated audio and imagery” onto the surface of the Monument. Think of the video mapping effects you see at major city celebrations, but on one of the most iconic structures in the world. The resolution points to the successful Apollo 11 anniversary event in 2019, which used similar projections, as a model.

This is more than just a light show; it’s an authorization for a massive, multi-day outdoor historical exhibit. For anyone living in or visiting the D.C. area during that New Year’s week, this means guaranteed spectacular viewing. However, it also means that the National Mall—already a high-traffic area—will be dealing with massive crowds and likely temporary closures or rerouting for those five nights. If you’re a local trying to commute or a tourist hoping for quiet reflection near the Monument, be prepared for some major operational disruption during that period.

Who’s Calling the Shots?

While Congress is setting the dates and demanding the show, the resolution puts the final authorization power squarely in the hands of the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary has to sign off on these “unique and one-time arrangements.” While the timeframe is crystal clear (December 31, 2025, to January 5, 2026), the bill is less specific about the content of the displays. It just asks for “significant artifacts, digital content, film footage,” etc.

This gives the Interior Secretary a lot of discretion over what exactly gets projected onto the Monument and displayed on the Mall. While the goal is to celebrate the nation’s founding, the lack of specific content criteria means the Secretary gets to decide what visual story of the 250 years is told. Given the historical significance of the event, the stakes are high for getting that visual narrative right.

Setting a Precedent

Joint resolutions like this, which express the “sense of Congress” and request administrative action, are often about setting procedural precedents. By explicitly authorizing the use of the Washington Monument for this kind of large-scale projection, the bill establishes that, yes, this can be done. While this is tied to a major national anniversary, future groups or events might cite this resolution to request similar access to the Monument for less historically significant purposes. For the National Park Service, this means they’ll be managing the logistics of a massive, high-tech event during the height of the holiday season, which will be a significant undertaking for their staff and resources.