If you’re planning on attending President Obama’s farewell address in Chicago next week, you’ll have to get up bright and early on Saturday for your chance to get tickets. The White House announced that public tickets for the free event will be distributed beginning at 8am at McCormick Place.
One free ticket per person will be handed out at the Gate 4 entrance of the South Loop convention center, and distribution will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The White House didn’t say how many tickets would be distributed in all, so you’ll want to get there early. However, no one will be allowed to begin waiting in line for the tickets earlier than 6am, and camping out or loitering outside McCormick Place before that time will be prohibited.
The actual address will be held at McCormick Place at 8pm on January 10. In a statement released by the president earlier this week, he said it would be modeled after the farewell address delivered by George Washington more than 220 years ago. Obama said his remarks will give him the chance to thank the American people for their support, celebrate the changes that have occurred over the last eight years and offer his thoughts on where the country will go from here.
“Since 2009, we've faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger,” the president said in his statement. “That's because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding—our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better. So I hope you'll join me one last time. Because, for me, it's always been about you.”
Chicagoans lucky enough to get tickets to the event can expect to go through airport-style security the evening of the address, meaning no bags, sharp objects, umbrellas, liquids or signs. Small cameras are OK.
And if you couldn’t get a ticket, you can watch the president’s address live here or on Facebook.
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