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Memorial Day weekend 2018: Event guide and road closures

By Jennifer Ortiz

WASHINGTON — While many may be traveling out of town during the Memorial Day weekend, D.C. is rife with opportunities to observe the holiday and remember fallen servicemen and women.

If you’re staying in the D.C. area to mark the unofficial start of the summer, here’s your guide to events around town and the road closures they bring.

Rolling Thunder

Motorcyclists will be revving through town Sunday, May 27, for the annual Rolling Thunder First Amendment Run.

Motorcyclists are scheduled to leave the North Pentagon parking lot at 12 p.m. Participants will ride through the area of the National Mall and end at West Potomac Park, where they will pay tribute to the fallen.

Thunder Alley, the official vendor site of the organization, will sell patches, pins, T-shirt and more on 22nd Street and Constitution Avenue NW in D.C.

In Arlington County, Washington Boulevard, Route 27, will be closed from Interstate 395 to the Memorial Bridge from 7 a.m. to approximately 4 p.m. for the Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally.

In D.C., the following road closures are in place Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.:

  • Constitution Avenue NW from 23rd Street NW to Third Street NW
  • 23rd Street NW from Constitution Avenue NW to Memorial Bridge
  • Third Street NW from Constitution Avenue NW to Independence Avenue SW
  • Independence Avenue SW from Third Street SW to 23rd Street SW

Parking will not be allowed on those streets from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Vehicles parked along the route and in violation of the of the emergency no parking signs will be ticketed and towed, D.C. police said in a news release.

Keep in mind that thousands of motorcyclists are in town and many more will be coming in from the surrounding areas in convoys on Sunday morning. On some highways like I-66, expect the police to close to ramps to allow motorcyclists to travel to the Pentagon for the start of the rally.

Most major roads will see convoys of motorcycles.

For the most updated traffic report, visit WTOP’s traffic center.

National Memorial Day Concert

This year’s concert kicks off at 8 p.m. Sunday on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

This year’s performers include Allison Janney, The Lt. Dan Band, Leona Lewis, The National Symphony Orchestra and more.

The concert is free and open to the public. General Admission gates open at 5 p.m.

Public entrances to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol:

  • North (Senate) Side of Capitol Square: Third Street NW, and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
  • South (House) Side of Capitol Square: Third Street SW, and Maryland Avenue SW

Road closures will take effect early Friday morning through Monday, May 28, on the following roads:

  • First Street, SW/NW from Independence Avenue to Constitution Avenue
  • Maryland Avenue, SW, from First Street to Third Street
  • Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, from First Street to Third Street

All bags, coolers, backpacks and closed containers will be checked; all guests will have to go through a metal detector.

The following items are prohibited:

  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Glass bottles
  • Animals (other than service animals)
  • Bicycles
  • Firearms and ammunition (either real or simulated)
  • Explosives of any kind (including fireworks)
  • Knives, blades or sharp objects (of any length)
  • Laser pointers
  • Signs
  • Posters
  • Mace and pepper spray, sticks and poles
  • Electric stun guns
  • Martial arts weapons or devices
  • Umbrellas larger than 36 inches in diameter (those smaller than 36″ will be allowed)
  • Pocket or hand tools such as a “Leatherman”
  • Sealed packages, large boxes, duffel bags, suitcases
  • Drones, model rockets, remote or manually-controlled model gliders, model airplanes or unmanned aircrafts, model boats and/or cars and other unmanned ground or aircraft system.

National Memorial Day Parade

The National Memorial Day Parade, the largest Memorial Day event according to the American Veterans Center’s website, is commemorating its 14th year.

This year’s parade kicks off at 2 p.m. on Monday and will feature The Tuskegee Airmen, Joe Mantegna and Trace Adkins, among other notable people.

The parade route starts at Seventh Street and Constitution Avenue NW, proceeds on Constitution Avenue NW and disbands around 5 p.m. between 18th and 23rd Streets on Constitution Avenue and Virginia Avenue NW.

The following road closures are in place:

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.:

  • Seventh Street between Independence Avenue SW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
  • Constitution Avenue NW between Sixth Street to Ninth Street NW.

From 1 p.m. until about 5 p.m.:

  • Seventh Street and Constitution Avenue NW to 23rd and Constitution Avenue NW

Arlington National Cemetery

The Arlington National Cemetery will host plenty of events on its ground Memorial Day weekend.

Participants of the Rolling Thunder’s annual Run for the Wall will arrive at Arlington National Cemetery on motorcycles Saturday and conduct a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beginning at 9 a.m.

The American Legion Riders will have a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tanner Amphitheater beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The Native Youth Alliance will have a wreath-laying ceremony at the Indigenous People Memorial Tree in Section 8 at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The Japanese American Citizens League of Washington, D.C., and Japanese American Veterans Association will have its 70th annual wreath-laying ceremony Sunday at the Pavilion in the Columbarium Courts in Section 63 at 9:30 a.m.

The U.S. Army Military District of Washington will conduct a Presidential Armed Forces full-honor wreath-laying ceremony at 11 a.m. at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Monday. It will followed by an observance program hosted by the Department of Defense in the Memorial Amphitheater.

Twenty and Four, the Honor Society of Women Legionnaires, will conduct a wreath-laying ceremony Monday at the Civil War Tomb of the Unknown in Section 26 at 1 p.m.

Volunteers with Memorial Day Flowers will place roses and other flowers on the headstones of fallen military service members. Volunteers will be meeting at noon Sunday and at 8 a.m. on Monday.

Visit the memorials

Those wanting to pay their respects to fallen servicemen and women can do so by visiting the many memorials dedicated to year-round remembrance.

From May 25 through May 27, the Poppy Memorial will be on display on the southwestern side of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial consists of the Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Wall and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. The memorial is located north of the Lincoln Memorial near the intersection of 22nd Street and Constitution Avenue NW.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall has 19 stainless steel statues commemorating those who served on the U.S. Armed Forces that served during the Korean War. It’s located southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.

The National World War II Memorial is located on 17th Street, between Constitution and Independence Avenue SW, at the east end of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. It honors the 16 million who served during World War II, the 400,000 who died and those who supported the effort at home, according the memorial’s website. 

The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial honors those who were disabled in military service. It’s located east of the Capitol and the Botanic Garden.

Pete Buttigieg returns to first-in-the-nation South Carolina with a fresh appeal to Black voters

By CNN
Orangeburg, South Carolina (CNN) — Pete Buttigieg has been to this small but historic city in South Carolina’s Midlands at least twice before, as an underdog presidential candidate in 2020 and then as the better-known transportation secretary under President Joe Biden in 2023.Now a private citizen eying a second White House bid, Buttigieg returned this weekend with renewed urgency, appealing to Black voters who have newly solidified influence in the 2028 nominating process and whom he failed to win over in his last presidential campaign.Buttigieg told party activists during a morning speech in Florence that Republicans were using redistricting as “the culmination of a generational project to dismantle Black representation.” He held a roundtable with students at a historically Black college where he discussed his idea of reparations for slavery. And during an evening speech to the storied NAACP branch here, he said President Donald Trump’s second term may feel all too familiar to activists who fought for civil rights in Orangeburg in the 1960s.“The mid-2020s does not represent our nation’s first experience with corruption and self-dealing, with bigotry and exclusion, with inequality and injustice, with undemocratic behavior or with political violence,” Buttigieg said, adding that prior struggles played out “not on some distant shore, but in places like Orangeburg.”With a midterm election looming where both parties are campaigning over the cost of living, Buttigieg chastised fellow Democrats whom he said prefer to prioritize economic concerns over tackling more fundamental questions about democracy. He argued that civil rights legends such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Jesse Jackson have shown that Americans “can — and we must — do both.”His trip to South Carolina, Buttigieg’s first since leaving the Biden administration, marked the beginning of a new phase of political maneuvering ahead of the next presidential election, with Buttigieg making a concerted effort to get in front of Black voters and demonstrating new bonafides from his transportation secretary tenure.It was also the first major visit by a potential 2028 candidate to the state since the Democratic National Committee voted on August 15 to keep it as the location for the first presidential primary in the nation, a nod to the political power of its large Black electorate.Buttigieg brushed off a question about his 2028 plans after his speech in Florence, telling reporters he is “totally focused on 2026.” But there were ample reminders of speculation about his next move on Saturday, including a scattering of homemade signs reading “PETE” and “2028” that sprung up when he took the stage. Surveying the enthusiastic crowd, he observed he should “come here more often.”One fan, 64-year-old retiree Karen Ench, wore a “Pete Buttigieg 2028” shirt to the speech. Contemplating his 2028 ambitions afterward, she said she thought he was “really taking it much more serious” and focusing on areas of improvement from 2020.A 2028 bid would undoubtedly start with higher expectations for the onetime mayor of South Bend, Indiana, compared to his first run.“The Pete Buttigieg of 2020 is not the Pete Buttigieg of 2026,” said Marlon Kimpson, a Black former state senator who backed Biden in the 2020 primary. “He has name recognition, he’s no longer introducing himself. I think people generally like Pete, and that’s a big deal in an open race because he starts out at a plus. But as we look at his economic agenda, just for the average South Carolinian, with emphasis on the African American community … and the political infrastructure he has deployed in our state, there will be questions with respect to those issues.”Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign, despite winning the Iowa caucuses with a much Whiter demographic, came to an end in South Carolina, dogged by his weaknesses with Black voters. After powerful South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn endorsed Biden and gave his flagging bid a shot of momentum that ultimately propelled him to the presidency, Buttigieg finished fourth in the Palmetto State and dropped out a day later.Biden received 61% support from Black voters in South Carolina, while Buttigieg got 3%, according to exit polls.Colleen Condon, a Charleston lawyer and longtime party activist who backed Buttigieg in 2020, said that “2020 is so hard to compare against” due to the unique circumstances of Clyburn’s support for Biden. Now, Condon, who is White, said, Democrats are “anxious for someone young and energetic” and noted Buttigieg would bring more experience to the 2028 race.“He has done a lot of work in the last eight years, (including) as secretary of transportation, in showing his ability to work on the federal level,” Condon said.‘What he’s actually done’In interviews across the state on Saturday, Black Democrats agreed Buttigieg’s experience as transportation secretary has distinguished him since he last sought their support. He played a high-profile role in promoting Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, visiting communities small and large across the country to announce funding for long-awaited projects.In Florence, Mattie Thomas, a member of the South Carolina Democratic Party executive committee, said she did not know about his time as mayor but now she sees him as “one of our best transportation secretaries.”“I think he’ll fare extremely well this go around because people, they’ve seen what he’s actually done,” Sandra Burgess Glover, a retired educator, said in Orangeburg as Buttigieg mingled with the dinner crowd before his speech.Buttigieg was showered with praise at the dinner for his June 2023 announcement in the city with Clyburn of a $23 million federal grant to better connect Orangeburg’s two HBCUs to downtown. Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler prompted a standing ovation for Buttigieg when he brought up the project, calling it “a long time coming.”Deloris Frazier, a member of the Orangeburg County Council, embraced Buttigieg as he worked the crowd before the dinner, telling him that she keeps a photo in her home of the two of them from that day in 2023. She told CNN afterward that she’d support Buttigieg for president if he ran, joking that she would take the photo and “just blow it up and make it bigger.”Earlier Saturday, Buttigieg visited one of Orangeburg’s HBCUs, Claflin University, and held an hourlong roundtable with about 20 students. The conversation topics ranged from artificial intelligence to reparations for slavery, which was a litmus test in the 2020 primary.Buttigieg said he still supported legislation to create a commission to study reparations. But he said he learned as transportation secretary that the federal government could take “reparative” steps sooner, pointing to his efforts to combat decades-old urban planning that led to highways cutting across Black neighborhoods.“I have a perspective on that that I didn’t have before when I didn’t have a chance to work on federal policy,” Buttigieg said.Usir Jackson, the president of the Student Government Association, said afterward he found Buttigieg “down to earth” and “authentic.”Buttigieg, who took notes at some points, appeared moved when the roundtable topic turned to young voters feeling disillusioned – and Jackson shared why he still makes sure to vote.“I do it to respect people who came before me,” Jackson said, “so I could vote.”Hurdles remain with Black votersFor all the praise of his record in the Biden administration, some of Buttigieg’s admirers acknowledge he needs it to translate into far more Black voter support than he saw in 2020.While the crowd he spoke to in Orangeburg was overwhelmingly Black, the audience that came to see him earlier in the day in Florence, at the state Democratic Party’s Spratt Issues Conference, was mostly White.State Rep. JA Moore was a crucial Black supporter for Buttigieg in 2020 in South Carolina, backing him after then-California Sen. Kamala Harris dropped out. Moore said in an interview that any potential 2028 candidate needs to focus less on tailoring a message to Black voters and more on developing a “cadence” of regularly reaching out to them where they are.“What we call it is the difference between a ‘come here’ and a ‘been here,’” Moore said. “I think one of the things people missed about Joe Biden – he was a ‘been here’ in the sense that he had been coming to South Carolina for over 40 years.”Some Black Democrats said he may continue to face hurdles in the state as a gay man, an issue that came up in 2020 as he reached out to socially conservative church congregations. “This is the Bible Belt,” Thomas said matter-of-factly.“Sometimes they want to categorize a candidate or individual because of their sexual preferences,” said Brenda Montgomery, a 67-year-old training specialist from Lake City who saw Buttigieg in Florence. “But for me, he is everyone. He represents everyone, and I really like him as a person because he is approachable.”Buttigieg, whose crowd in Florence was dotted with some small rainbow flags, does not go out of his way to talk about his sexual orientation. But on Saturday, he spoke regularly about his two children, who are mixed-race, that he adopted with his husband, Chasten, noting fatherhood is the biggest personal change he has experienced since 2020.It’s a life change that would be put to the test by another grueling presidential campaign, which South Carolina Democrats see as likelier than ever. While he mostly avoided talk of 2028, he said in Florence that he was excited about South Carolina’s first-in-the-nation status and how it would spotlight the state’s diversity.Buttigieg has fielded the 2028 speculation by becoming one of the most prolific endorsers in the midterms, with an eye on supporting Black Democrats and Democrats running in Republican-leaning territory. He kicked off his South Carolina trip on Friday night by headlining a fundraiser in Charleston for Nancy Lacore, a retired Navy officer running for an open House seat in a district that Trump carried by 13 percentage points in 2024.Condon, the Democratic activist who helped host Buttigieg’s fundraiser for LaCore, said it was “extremely early, but I’m very inclined to” support Buttigieg again in 2028 if he runs.Moore said it was too early for endorsements but said he especially likes Buttigieg for at least one reason.Buttigieg “has the ability to learn and adapt,” Moore said. “I find that refreshing and appealing.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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