The 49th ceremony will be held on 7 December 2026 at the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena instead of its traditional 2,347-seat Opera House venue.
A federal judge ruled that only Congress can rename the center, blocking President Donald Trump's name from the facade and halting a planned two-year closure following a lawsuit by Representative Joyce Beatty.
The Kennedy Center closed its main facility to the public in September 2026 citing structural deterioration and a partial ceiling collapse, conducting assessments on a week-to-week basis.
Organizers have not yet announced the 2026 honorees or a television broadcast partner after the expiration of a continuous contract with CBS that began in 1978.
The 49th annual Kennedy Center Honors will take place at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington on 7 December 2026, the first time in the event's history that it will occur outside its traditional home. Since its inaugural presentation in 1978, the ceremony has been staged inside the 2,347-capacity Opera House of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The move shifts the event to a 20,000-seat sports arena that hosts the NHL's Washington Capitals and the NBA's Washington Wizards. The venue previously served as the site for President Donald Trump's second inaugural parade on 20 January 2025, following a rally held there the previous day.
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The relocation follows a legal battle over a proposed $250 million renovation project backed by the Trump administration. The center's board of trustees sought to close the complex for two years to execute the project, prompting a lawsuit from Representative Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio board member. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the two-year closure until the board more fully weighed its impact. The court also ruled that only Congress holds the authority to rename the institution, ordering the removal of Trump's name from the exterior facade and rejecting subsequent board proposals to alter the building's exterior. Following the rulings, officials shuttered the main building to the public citing deteriorating infrastructure and the collapse of part of a ceiling, with safety evaluations conducted on a week-to-week basis. Beatty argued in legal filings that the maintenance claims were a pretext for closing a facility undergoing financial and artistic decline.
The awards program will retain the name Kennedy Center Honors, omitting the president's name. A center spokesperson stated that the 2026 honorees will be announced at a later date, marking a later schedule than in prior years. In 2025, the five honorees (George Strait, KISS, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor, and Sylvester Stallone) were revealed on 13 August 2025 after receiving personal approval from Trump, while actor Tom Cruise declined the honor due to scheduling conflicts. In 2024 under President Joe Biden, the class included Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Arturo Sandoval, and the Apollo Theater. Organizers will also announce a broadcast partner at a later date following the expiration of the center's contract with CBS, which had televised the event continuously from 1978 through 2025.
The changes follow years of friction between the Trump administration and the arts complex. In 2017, during the first year of his first term, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump declined to participate in events honoring the recipients. In 2025, Trump served as the master of ceremonies for the event, using a portion of the broadcast to promote his signature legislative policy. Television ratings for the 2025 ceremony on CBS and Paramount+ fell to an all-time low. Board proposals to rename the institution as The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts drew opposition from members of the Kennedy family and led multiple artists to cancel scheduled appearances.
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The 49th Kennedy Center Honors will take place on 7 December at Washington's 20,000-seat Capital One Arena after court rulings blocked a two-year closure and renaming of the performing arts complex.
AI text based on reports by Deadline, POLITICO, Reuters and other publishers. Published .