Memorandum To: NPS Regional Director National Capital Region Through: Kevin Griess, Superintendent National Mall and Memorial Parks, National Capital Region From: Marisa Richardson Chief, Division of Permits Management Subject: Concurrence of closures associated with Special Use Permit NCA-NAMA-EVNT26-0053 The National Capital Area Permit office under the authority of 36 CFR 7.96 will issue a Special Use Permit (SUP) to Freedom 250 and the National Park Service for their special event, and associated build out and tear down, May 1-July 24, 2026. Under this permit, it will be necessary to close areas of the park for health, safety, and security measures. I am asking for your concurrence of these closures or public use limits in alignment with Policy Memo 16-02. As a general matter, NPS policy is for areas within a park that are normally open to the public to remain open during the conduct of a special event. Unless expressly stated as a condition of a permit, special park use permits do not authorize the exclusive use of a park area. This concurrence request comes through the permittee and will be the smallest area required and the shortest time possible to accommodate the event and manage it appropriately. The permit will contain conditions intended to protect park resources, the visiting public and health and safety. This request does not include any security measures related to dignitary visits. If any security closures are required, those will be handled separately. Additionally, based security determinations conducted by the United States Park Police, the following areas will be closed to public use including public visitation between June 3 and July 24, 2026, due to the Special Use Permit issued to Freedom 250, and the National Park Service. The United States Park Police have reviewed the proposed plan for the set-up, events, and subsequent tear down relating to the Great American State Fair (GASF) event June 24-July 10, 2026, and the FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Zone (FIFA) event June 11-July 19, 2026. This includes temporary visitor access restrictions to the following locations: National Mall Segment Bounded by 3rd Street, Madison Drive NW, 4th Street, and Jefferson Drive SW (Seaton Park East) • Starting at 6:00 am on Thursday, June 11, 2026, the site will be open to the public, subject to security screening and capacity limits to protect life and safety, during the times described in Table 1 and will be fully closed to public access outside of those times.
• Starting at approximately 8:00 pm on Sunday, July 19, and continuing until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, July 24, 2026, the site will be fully closed to the public.
National Mall Segment Bounded by 4th Street, Madison Drive NW, 7th Street, and Jefferson Drive SW (Seaton Park West and Henry Park) • Starting at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, other than as noted below, a full closure to the public will be in effect, expected to conclude on Wednesday, July 17, 2026, at approximately 11:59 p.m. (times on this date may be subject to change based on operational and law-enforcement needs.) Exceptions to this closure are described below:
• Starting at approximately 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, the site will be open to the public, subject to security screening and capacity limits to protect life and safety, during the times indicated below through Friday, July 10 at 11:00 p.m. At the below times, the site is opened other than those areas being used by the permittee to run the event; the public is not allowed in those areas being utilized for event logistics and services within the impacted area that are delineated by fencing, signage, or other reasonable measures.
o Wednesday, June 24: approximately 4:00 p.m. until approximately 9:30 p.m.
o Thursday, June 25 – Saturday, June 27: 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., daily
o Sunday, June 28 – Tuesday, June 30: 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., daily
o Wednesday, July 1 – Friday, July 3: 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., daily.
o Saturday, July 4: 10:00 a.m. until midnight.
o Sunday, July 5 – Wednesday, July 8: 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., daily.
o Thursday, July 9 – Friday, July 10: 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., daily.
National Mall Segment Bounded by 7th Street, Madison Drive NW, 14th Street, and Jefferson Drive SW (National Mall and Agriculture Grounds) • Starting at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, other than as noted below, a full closure to the public will be in effect, expected to conclude on Wednesday, July 17, 2026, at approximately 11:59 p.m. (times on this date may be subject to change based on operational and law-enforcement needs.) Exceptions to this closure are described below:
• Starting at approximately 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, the site will be open to the public, subject to security screening and capacity limits to protect life and safety, during the times indicated below through Friday, July 10 at 11:00 p.m. At the below times, the site is opened other than those areas being used by the permittee to run the event; the public is not allowed in those areas being utilized for event logistics and services within the impacted area that are delineated by fencing, signage, or other reasonable measures.
o Wednesday, June 24: approximately 4:00 p.m. until approximately 9:30 p.m.
o Thursday, June 25 – Saturday, June 27: 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., daily
o Sunday, June 28 – Tuesday, June 30: 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., daily
o Wednesday, July 1 – Friday, July 3: 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., daily.
o Saturday, July 4: 10:00 a.m. until midnight.
o Sunday, July 5 – Wednesday, July 8: 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., daily.
o Thursday, July 9 – Friday, July 10: 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., daily.
Further, temporary road closures will be implemented at the following locations From Thursday, June 11, 2026, at 6:00 a.m. to Monday, July 20, 8:00 pm p.m. the following streets will be closed to vehicle traffic during the hours the FIFA World Cup Fan Zone site is open to spectators (see Table 1): • Madison Drive NW from 3rd Street to 4th Street NW
• Jefferson Drive SW from 3rd Street to 4th Street SW
Beginning at midnight on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, July 17, the following streets will be closed to vehicle traffic: • Madison Drive NW between 3rd Street and 14th Street
• Jefferson Drive SW between 3rd Street and 14th Street
• 12th Street between Madison Drive NW and Constitution Avenue
• 12th Street between Jefferson Drive SW and Independence Avenue
Unless otherwise noted it is anticipated that United States Park Police (USPP) personnel will restrict public access to the closure areas. All proposed closures, safety mitigation, and schedule are requisite to complete the project as laid out within their plan. All closures are necessary for the safety of both the public as well as the workers constructing the various projects. The park will publish notifications of these closures and restrictions pursuant to the terms of 36 CFR 1.7. Concurrence Kevin L. Griess /s/ Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks 6/17/26 Concurrence Jennifer T. Nersesian /s/ Regional Director, National Capital Area 6/17/26
Table 1: Detailed Schedule of FIFA Fan Zone Open Hours
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Last updated: June 18, 2026