Hmmm: Inauguration Info

This is going to be HUGE!

Inauguration tickets will undoubtedly be the hottest tickets in town next year or quite possibly ever.

I've already had inquiries from several friends about how to get tickets and unfortunately, I'm looking for some myself (hint hint anyone).

But fear not.

If you can't score a ticket there are other ways you can participate in the history making events of the day.

Here are are few things to keep in mind...

• The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies prints about 240,000 tickets for official events, including various balls. These tickets are distributed for free through Senate and House offices to constituents, and through the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
• The Monday holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on Jan. 19, the day before the inauguration, which will also add to the crowds.
• Don’t worry if you don’t have a ticket to an official event. Hundreds of thousands of people always gather along Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the procession from the Capitol to the White House after the swearing-in ceremony. Only bleacher seats require tickets. There are plenty of viewing spots on the parade route and there will be giant viewing screens set up on the National Mall for the swearing-in ceremony.
• No website or other ticket outlet actually has inaugural swearing-in tickets to sell, regardless of what they may claim. Tickets will not be distributed to Congressional offices until the week before the inauguration and will require in-person pick-up. “Any website or ticket broker claiming that they have inaugural tickets is simply not telling the truth,” said Howard Gantman, Staff Director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

You can get more information from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies or from the Washington, DC tourism bureau (I think they have the best info from what I've seen).