Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2026

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Congress designated the date National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in 1994, and the designation now sits in federal law at 36 U.S. Code § 129.

The law asks the President to issue a proclamation every year calling on Americans to observe the day with ceremonies, and asking federal agencies, organizations and individuals to fly the flag at half-staff “in honor of the individuals who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.” The proclamation usually arrives close to the day: the 2025 proclamation was published in the Federal Register on December 10, 2025. The 2026 proclamation had not been issued as of late September.

The schedule above comes from Pacific Historic Parks, the National Park Service’s official nonprofit partner, which has posted dated listings for each 2026 ceremony. The National Park Service’s own page had not posted 2026 details as of late September; its FAQ still said plans were being finalized and to check back in the fall.

The main event is the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony, on Monday, December 7, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, 1 Arizona Memorial Place. It is free and open to the public.

The USS Utah ceremony on Sunday, December 6, and the USS Oklahoma ceremony on the afternoon of December 7 take place at those ships’ memorials on Ford Island, an active military base. Both are listed as open to the public, but only with Ford Island access, which takes military or government ID. The Blackened Canteen ceremony at the USS Arizona Memorial on December 8 is by invitation only.

In 2025 the ceremony was streamed on the park’s website, the park’s Facebook page, Navy Region Hawaii’s Facebook page and pearlharborevents.com. How it will be shown in 2026 has not been announced, and no viewing lottery has been announced either. These are the pages to check in November:

• Pacific Historic Parks events for the ceremony schedule and any changes.
• Pearl Harbor National Memorial (nps.gov/perl) for the park’s own announcements, livestream details and the Arizona Memorial schedule that day.
• National Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade for the parade start time and route.

The National Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade marches through Waikiki on the evening of December 7, and the parade committee is presenting the 2026 parade as part of the 85th anniversary. The route starts at Fort DeRussy, runs about a mile down Kalakaua Avenue, then turns up Monsarrat Avenue to the Waikiki Shell. Check the parade’s site for the start time closer to the date.

If you are staying in Waikiki, plan dinner and rides around a parade on Kalakaua that evening.

Expect the heaviest crowds and traffic of the year around December 7. The Visitor Center is open that day from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; it closes only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Arizona Memorial program is free but needs a timed reservation on Recreation.gov, with a $1 fee. Tickets release at 3 p.m. Hawaii time 8 weeks (56 days) ahead and again the day before. Counting back 56 days, the first release for December 7 is on October 12.

• Check the morning boats before you book. In past years the Arizona Memorial programs have been limited on the morning of December 7 while the ceremony runs. In 2021, for example, the park ran them from noon to 2:45 p.m. that day. The 2026 plan is not out yet, so check nps.gov/perl before you book an early slot.
• Leave early. Waikiki to Pearl Harbor is about 45 minutes by car on a normal day. Our guide to getting to Pearl Harbor from Waikiki compares driving, TheBus and rideshare.
• Bring almost nothing. Only a small wallet or a clear bag is allowed. Parking is $7 for the day.
• Nothing special announced at the paid sites. The Battleship Missouri, the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum and the USS Bowfin had not posted any December 7 programs as of late September.

Our Pearl Harbor tickets guide walks through the Recreation.gov booking and the standby list step by step. Tour companies book the Arizona Memorial from a separate operator allocation, not the public release, so a tour can still have Arizona seats after the public tickets are gone. For December, book early and read what each tour includes; our comparison of Pearl Harbor tours from Waikiki lays it out.

As of December 2025, 12 Pearl Harbor survivors were reported living, all of them centenarians, and none was able to travel to Hawaii for the 84th anniversary ceremony, according to Military Times (December 8, 2025). That number falls every year, and no official count for 2026 has been published.

For a quieter hour that week, the Aiea Loop Trail and Keaiwa Heiau is the hike in the hills above Pearl Harbor.