Nominations for Great Face recognition for 2026 will be accepted April 1-September 30. (No Great Face nominations will be accepted October 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027.)

(The Great Face program replaces the Certificate of Great Service program.)

The fireworks at Mount Rushmore National Memorial will take place the evening of Friday, July 3, 2026.

The 2026 event is a ticketed event. The public ticket lottery, hosted by Recreation.gov, will be live and accepting applicants from April 8-12, 2026.

Only lottery ticket winners will be admitted to the event on July 3rd. Tickets are non-transferrable. The park will close to the general public the evening of July 2nd, and will reopen for regular hours on July 4th with Independence Day programming open to all visitors.