WATCH LIVE: New Year’s Eve fireworks and Washington Monument light show

By WTOP Staff
December 31, 2025 | 3:07 PM

It’s almost time to ring in 2026 — and D.C. is celebrating on the National Mall.

The fireworks will begin at midnight to celebrate the new year.

To commemorate America’s 250th birthday in 2026, the Washington Monument will have a projection show and an illumination of a 250-foot birthday candle beginning on New Year’s Eve.

The illumination of the Washington Monument starts at 7 p.m. While the first projection show starts on New Year’s Eve, it will be lit up every night through Jan 5.

Watch the show live below:

Washington archbishop removes priest as exorcist after comments on UFOs and demons

June 3, 2026 | 7:22 PM

The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons. McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.