The inauguration ceremony for Idaho’s top elected officials is set for next Friday, Jan. 9, starting at noon at the state Capitol. Officials to be sworn in on the Capitol steps are the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state controller, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction. Then, on Saturday night, Jan. 10, the public is invited to the Inaugural Ball, a nonpartisan tradition in Idaho since 1913.

Held in the rotunda of the Capitol, the Inaugural Ball cost $25 a person; it’s not a fundraiser for anything, as it’s financed entirely by ticket sales. This is separate from the political fundraisers that generally are held at other locations the same day. Tickets to the Inaugural Ball are available online here; they’ll also be sold in the garden level of the Capitol all next week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Idaho National Guard’s 25^th Army Band will play, and doors will open at 7 p.m. The traditional Grand Procession of elected officials and distinguished guests will begin at 8. At the first ball in Idaho’s newly built Capitol in 1918, a newspaper report at the time described how the procession “wound up and over the spacious staircases … like a many-colored serpent of various hues.” Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard, which coordinates the ball, said in a news release, “It is much the same today as it was then.”

The state will open up its Capitol Mall parking lots and garages for free parking for ball attendees, including the new garage at 7^th and Washington streets.