Arlington National Cemetery prepares for Memorial Day traditions

The hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery is always a poignant place to visit. Never more so than over Memorial Day weekend.

More than 3 million people visit Arlington National Cemetery each year, with more than 135,000 expected to come to the cemetery over the Memorial Day weekend. Preparations begin days ahead of the holiday, a time to honor all U.S. soldiers who have died serving their country.

Several special events are held during the weekend including Flowers of Remembrance Day, during which the public can place flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Sunday, May 24, and the 158th National Memorial Day Observance ceremony on Monday, May 25. 

A week before Memorial Day, the cemetery's facilities and maintenance crew hangs U.S. flags at the cemetery's Memorial Amphitheater, where the National Memorial Day Observance ceremony will be held on Monday, May 25.

Meanwhile, the cemetery – the final resting place for more than 400,000 service members, veterans and their eligible dependents – continues to conduct up to 30 burials each weekday.

'Flags In' before Memorial Day weekend

Visitors to Arlington National Cemetery over the Memorial Day weekend will see graves, which were placed at more than 260,000 gravesites early Thursday morning, May 21, by nearly 1,500 soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard.”

It's a tradition that goes back 78 years. In 1948, the Army named the regiment as its official ceremonial unit and since then The Old Guard, along with some participants from other branches of the military, has annually placed flags at soldiers' headstones.

Flags were also placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Sentinels who are part of the Tomb Guard. Army chaplains, along with some Navy chaplains, place flags at the gravesites of those buried on Chaplains Hill in Section 2 of the cemetery.

“For those who gave everything in service to our country, this is our way of showing that they will never be forgotten,” said Staff Sgt. Jacob Holmes, the former public affairs team leader for the Old Guard, in a news release about 2025's event. “And for the soldiers of the Old Guard, it is more than a duty; it’s a sacred honor to carry their memory forward, year after year.”

Memorial Day weekend visitors to the Arlington National Cemetery will see the tens of thousands of flags. The Old Guard will remove the flags after Memorial Day.

Flowers of Remembrance Day at Arlington National Cemetery

Tomb Guards will have flowers at the ready on Sunday, May 24. That's because visitors to the cemetery, which is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, can walk across the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier plaza and place a flower at the tomb on Flowers of Remembrance Day.

"Memorial Day is not about retail sales, cook-outs, or the start of the summer season. It is a holiday dedicated to honoring and mourning the war dead. Forged from the collective grief of the American Civil War, it now provides our nation with an opportunity to pause from our normal affairs to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in defense of our nation," said Arlington National Cemetery historian Allison Finkelstein, in writing about the Flowers of Remembrance Day ceremony, added in 2022.

The Flowers of Remembrance Day ceremony, which begins at 8 a.m. and runs until 4:30 p.m., gives the public "the opportunity to viscerally connect with this ritual by stepping onto the sacred ground of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – normally closed to the general public – and placing a flower there," she said. 

Also on May 24, in the outdoor bowl of the nearby Memorial Amphitheater, Arlington National Cemetery historians will deliver a program starting at 10 a.m. discussing the history of Decoration Day, which began in 1868 and preceded Memorial Day. After the program, they will lead a walking tour.During the morning, cemetery visitors may hear the rumbling of motorcycles as the annual "Rolling to Remember" motorcycle ride makes its way around the nearby monuments.

Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery

The 158th National Memorial Day Observance program kicks off about 10:45 a.m. on Monday, May 25, with pre-event programming and a formal program starting at about noon.

Free and open to the public, the event has seating available on a first-come, first-served basis. Walking to and from the amphitheater is strictly prohibited, so attendees must ride the tram from the Welcome Center to the Memorial Amphitheater.

You can watch a livestream of the event on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service webiste.Traditionally the president comes to Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. President Trump, who has done that regularly on Memorial Day, also spoke at the national observance event in 2025.

Also on Monday, there's a rare evening event: The Freedom 250 National Memorial Day Observance: An Evening of Stories and Service at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. The candlelit program will, according to the event website, "will feature storytelling, reflection, music, and patriotic tribute centered on themes of American grit, valor, and a life of service."

Among the honorees: Medal of Honor recipient Captain Humbert "Rocky" Versace and U.S. Army Special Forces Captain Daniel W. Eggers. Country music artist Gretchen Wilson will perform.

Ahead of the event, Arlington National Cemetery will stop admitting visitors and family pass holders at 4 p.m. on Monday, May 25, and all visitors must exit the cemetery by 5 p.m.

The cemetery will reopen at 6 p.m. for Freedom 250 event attendees and the program begins at 8:30 p.m. ET. For more information, go to the Freedom 250 website.

Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at  mikegsnider  &  @mikegsnider.bsky.social  &  @mikesnider & [email protected].