Mayor Muriel Bowser joined President Biden today in inviting visitors from around the country to come to DC for the Fourth of July celebrations. “DC is open and ready to welcome back visitors to celebrate the way we came together as a city and as a nation this year,” Bowser said in a press release.
The messaging is a 180 from the mayor’s previous messaging about travel to DC. Bowser explicitly asked Americans not to come to DC for the presidential inauguration, and asked DC residents last Fourth of July to watch the fireworks from home and avoid public transportation. With 70 percent of DC adults at least partly vaccinated and all the city’s business restrictions removed, it’s clear local government is ready to move towards a state of normalcy when it comes to the Fourth and out-of-towners.
There will be fireworks on the National Mall and the White House will host a party for essential workers and military families on the South Lawn. The Barracks Row and Palisades Fourth of July parades will return this year as well.
Jane is a Chicago transplant who now calls Cleveland Park her home. Before joining Washingtonian, she wrote for Smithsonian Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied journalism and opera.
