Kennedy Center Honors to move to Capital One Arena for first time

The Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7, moving the annual gala out of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts for the first time in its nearly 50-year history, the center announced Friday. The center said it will announce this year's honorees at a later date. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

The center's main building has been closed to the public since Sept. 15, after its board voted to close for renovations, and safety assessments are still underway. In court filings, Executive Director Matt Floca explained that the closure would be reconsidered on a week-by-week basis depending on those assessments. Capital One Arena seats around 20,000 people, compared with the 2,300 seats in the center's Opera House, where the ceremony has traditionally been held, NBC News reported. [ 1 ]

The board cited a partial ceiling collapse in the center's Grand Foyer last month as evidence the building needed to close immediately for repairs, NBC News reported. UPI reported that a chunk of the ceiling fell into the Grand Foyer on Sept. 4 during heavy rains in Washington, and that the board called the incident “another example of the urgent need to close for renovation.” In a draft resolution, the board said a construction consultant and the center's director considered the main building unsafe for continued occupancy and anticipated further risk to the public and employees, proposing a two-year closure during construction. [ 1 , 3 ]

The closure is tied to a legal and political fight over the building. President Donald Trump has previously said renovations would not happen — and that the building could potentially even be demolished — unless his name was added to it, NBC News reported. UPI reported that a judge ruled Trump's name had to be removed, allowing only John F. Kennedy's name to stand, and that the board, whose members were picked by Trump, has since sought renovations that would produce a new name: “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” In a court filing, the Trump administration threatened to demolish the center if it is not allowed to renovate it, UPI reported. CBS News reported that Congress appropriated over $250 million for renovations to the facility last year. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

The board has suggested the major renovation might not proceed if the courts do not allow Trump's name to be added, CBS News reported. UPI reported that since Trump's takeover of the institution in February, the center has suffered from dropping ticket sales and the departure of several high-profile performers, and that Trump, as chairman, became the first president to host the Honors. The center remains closed while its future is decided in the courts, UPI reported. [ 2 , 3 ]

This year's honorees have not been selected, UPI reported; last year's included actor Sylvester Stallone and country music artist George Strait, according to CBS News, and singer Gloria Gaynor, according to UPI. CBS broadcast the Honors every year from 1978 to 2025, and that contract ended after the 2025 program, a source familiar with the contract told CBS News. A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the center expects to announce its broadcast partner for the 2026 program later this fall. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]