--- title: Trump Inauguration: What to Know About Inaugural Balls description: President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their wives will spend the first evening of a new presidency attending balls canonical: https://time.com/4641539/trump-inauguration-inaugural-balls/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-20T22:26:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:50:49.142Z article:section: Politics og:title: What to Know About the Inaugural Balls og:description: President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their wives will attend three events og:url: https://time.com/4641539/trump-inauguration-inaugural-balls/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb4562db656fcd6a/6988b67886f68e4ba76e3365/trump-inauguration-lunch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: President Donald Trump gestures during a toast at the Inaugural luncheon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About the Inaugural Balls twitter:description: President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their wives will attend three events twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb4562db656fcd6a/6988b67886f68e4ba76e3365/trump-inauguration-lunch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What to Know About the Inaugural Balls > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 20, 2017 10:26 PM UTC  President Donald Trump gestures during a toast at the Inaugural luncheon at the National Statuary Hall in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017. President Donald Trump gestures during a toast at the Inaugural luncheon at the National Statuary Hall in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017. Yuri Gripas—Reuters by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 20, 2017 10:26 PM UTC As part of Friday’s [inauguration festivities](http://time.com/4639340/donald-trump-inauguration-events-schedule/), [President Trump](http://time.com/4641313/trump-inauguration-speech-analysis/?xid=homepage), Vice President [Mike Pence](http://time.com/4606111/mike-pence-is-no-ordinary-wingman/) and their wives will spend their first evening in office attending a series of balls held in Washington, D.C. Here’s everything you need to know about them: [**Three official inaugural balls**](http://time.com/4639340/donald-trump-inauguration-events-schedule/) **are being held.** Two of the balls, Liberty and Freedom: The Official Presidential Inaugural Balls, will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The third, a Salute To Our Armed Services Ball, will take place at the National Building Museum. All three balls begin at 7 p.m. E.T. **The first two balls are** [**open to the public**](https://www.58pic2017.org/press-releases/pic-announces-inaugural-ball-information)**.** Tickets to the Liberty and Freedom Balls are $50 per person. The Salute To Our Armed Services Ball is by invitation only, with tickets provided free of charge. **The official inaugural balls will feature a number of entertainers.** Sam Moore, The Rockettes, Tim Rushlow and his Big Band, Silhouettes, Pelican212, The Piano Guys, Circus 1903, Cache Olson, Lexi Walker and Erin Boheme are the scheduled special guests at the Liberty and Freedom balls. Tony Orlando and Josh Weathers will perform at the Salute to Our Armed Services Ball. **Inaugural balls are a fixture of Washington’s social calendar after presidential inaugurations.** The first ball dates back to James Madison’s inauguration in 1809\. Some presidents, like Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding, [did not attend](http://time.com/4628822/every-inauguration-ever/) inaugural balls because they considered them excessive. **For First Ladies, the inaugural balls are a time to formally introduce themselves to America.** Their sartorial choices reflect their personal values and have in the past set a precedent for what their husbands’ administrations will come to represent. For both of former President Barack Obama’s inaugurations, First Lady Michelle Obama chose Jason Wu, an openly gay designer who was born in Taiwan, for the gown she wore. The two rumored names in the running for Melania Trump are Karl Lagerfeld and Ralph Lauren. Check out some of the most memorable inaugural gowns [here](http://time.com/4636471/first-lady-inaugural-dresses-trump-inauguration/). **The number of inaugural events that presidents attend — and their cachet outside of Washington — has grown over the years.** The first inauguration to have two balls was for Andrew Jackson in 1833\. By the time John F. Kennedy was sworn into office in 1963, the balls had [attracted Hollywood elite](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1872567%5F1826908,00.html), like Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. Obama attended three balls after his second inauguration like Trump will on Friday, but he attended more after his first inauguration in 2009. **Several other balls are scheduled for the evening.** Although Trump and Pence are attending three balls, a number of events are scheduled in Washington on Friday night. Among others, Planned Parenthood will host its [Pink Ball](http://www.ppaction.org/site/Calendar;jsessionid=B1AB7399BD93A9C3954BA0F1DA9F3EAE.app20110b?view=Detail&id=130776) at the Carol Whitehill Moses Center, while the 1920s-themed [The Great Gatsby Presidential Inaugural Ball](https://www.facebook.com/events/575416309303519/) will take place at the National Portrait Gallery. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4641539/trump-inauguration-inaugural-balls/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4641539/trump-inauguration-inaugural-balls/"},"headline":"What to Know About the Inaugural Balls","datePublished":"2017-01-20T22:26:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:50:49.142Z","description":"President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their wives will attend three events","url":"https://time.com/4641539/trump-inauguration-inaugural-balls/","keywords":["Washington","Donald Trump","onetime","trump inauguration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb4562db656fcd6a/6988b67886f68e4ba76e3365/trump-inauguration-lunch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb4562db656fcd6a/6988b67886f68e4ba76e3365/trump-inauguration-lunch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Donald Trump gestures during a toast at the Inaugural luncheon","caption":"U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a toast at the Inaugural luncheon at the National Statuary Hall in Washington, U.S, January 20, 2017. 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