On Saturday, April 11, 2026, the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade will take place on Constitution Avenue NW between 7th Street NW and 17th Street NW. The event will begin at 11:00 am and conclude at 1:30 pm. For additional information, please visit the event website.
Road closures are expected to begin at 3:00 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. Closures include Constitution Ave., 17th St., and Virginia Ave. NW. This event may impact the Foggy Bottom Campus with increased vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The GW Vex will run on a regular schedule.
An active list of road closures and parking restrictions can be found on the MPD Advisory Webpage. Additionally, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) reports there will be impacts to bus routes near the event. For timely traffic information, please visit MPD X (Twitter) and for timely Metro information, please visit WMATA X (Twitter).
GW’s Office of Emergency Management is collaborating with local and regional public safety organizations to monitor activity in the district and will send email and/or text alerts to the entire GW community if necessary. The latest safety and security information will be posted here on Campus Advisories.
Additional Information
For additional safety and security resources, visit the Safety website or download the GW Guardian app. Additional emergency management information from the District of Columbia is also available online.
All GW community members are automatically signed up to receive GW emergency email alerts. You can manage your GW Alert account to also receive GW text alerts on your mobile device. In addition to adding your mobile number, you can add up to three email addresses and phone numbers so that friends or family may also receive GW emergency alerts. Visit GW Alert FAQ for instructions on how to manage your account. In addition, for those who use mobile apps, the GW Guardian App will push GW emergency alerts directly to the app, as well as other safety functions.