Kennedy Center Honors Move to Capital One Arena for 2026 Ceremony

The Kennedy Center announced November 2 that its 2026 honorees are singer-songwriter Paul Anka, composer David Foster, actor Andy Garcia, playwright David Mamet and country star Barbara Mandrell. The 49th ceremony will be held December 7.

This year's ceremony will take place at Capital One Arena in Washington, not at the Kennedy Center itself, amid the ongoing legal dispute over the building's name and renovation closure plans. The move to the larger arena also gives the event far more seats than the center's concert hall.

The Kennedy Center Honors, first awarded in 1978, celebrate lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts. Past honorees range from opera singers and jazz musicians to actors, dancers and rock stars.

Anka, 85, wrote hits including “Diana” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” before becoming one of pop's most durable songwriters. Mandrell, a country music star of the 1970s and 1980s, was one of the genre's first major crossover television personalities.

Foster has produced and written for some of the biggest voices in pop, Garcia has built a decades-long film career, and Mamet is among America's most influential living playwrights. The ceremony is traditionally taped for a televised broadcast later in December.