Why does the big evergreen at 7th and D Streets SE, next to the Eastern Market Metro, have a name? The Capitol Hill holiday tree is called Sonny. For almost two decades, a neighborhood business group, a family, a local bank and a choir have gathered around it on a Saturday evening in November.
On Saturday, November 21, 2026, the Capitol Hill BID will hold its 20th Annual Capitol Hill Tree Lighting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Eastern Market Metro Park, 701 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. The BID's listing says the celebration happens "at the tree known as 'Sonny' in the SW Quadrant of Eastern Market Metro Plaza." It also says members of the Didden family will flip the switch. Every other part of the evening, and much of what fills the plaza between mid-November and mid-December, makes more sense once you know who Sonny was.
Sonny Is a Deodar Cedar With a Banker's Nickname
The tree is a 40-foot Cedrus deodara, or deodar cedar, planted in spring 2007. Hill Rag reported that it was planted to honor George A. Didden III for his contributions to Capitol Hill, and that "Sonny" was his nickname among family and friends. Capitol Hill BID President Patty Brosmer told the paper she helped plant it.
Didden's public role is the reason the tree stands where it does. He took over as head of National Capital Bank from his father in 1995 and served as its chair and CEO, according to The Washington Post's 2007 profile. The Post also described him as a longtime community leader. Hill Rag identifies him as the founding chairman of the Capitol Hill BID, the same organization that organizes the lighting today. He died in December 2007, the same year the cedar went into the ground.
So the Hill's official holiday tree is a living cedar planted for a specific person, and the business district he helped found has lit it every year since.
The Sponsor, the Switch and the Singers Have Stayed the Same
The links between the tree and the people around it have held for years. National Capital Bank, the bank Didden led, is listed as the sponsor of the 2026 lighting. His family still flips the switch. At the 19th annual ceremony on November 22, 2025, Kathy Didden and her daughter Amanda Didden Edwards lit the tree together, as Hill Rag reported. Just before the switch, Kathy Didden told the crowd:
"And now for the magic moment."
The rest of the program has been just as steady. Hill Rag's coverage of the 2025 lighting says the Men and Women in Blue served hot chocolate, donuts and candy canes, and the choir Joyous Voices opened with carols. That was the choir's 19th performance at the tree, so it has sung at every lighting so far. The BID's 2026 listing promises the same mix of hot chocolate and doughnuts from the "Men in Blue" and performances by local musical groups.
That steadiness is the main reason to go. The lighting lasts an hour, starts after dark on a Saturday and asks nothing of anyone except showing up at 7th and D. Twenty years in, it is one of the few events on the Hill run by the same groups, at the same corner, around the same tree every year.
The Plaza Took Nearly a Decade of Community Work
The tree is older than the park around it. Eastern Market Metro Park officially opened in 2021 "after nearly a decade of community work," Hill Rag reported in 2024. The park runs along Pennsylvania Avenue SE between 7th and 9th Streets and is split diagonally into two sections. The northeast quadrant has a playground, a splash pad and public art. The southwest quadrant, between 7th and 8th Streets, has a pavilion and pedestrian and streetscape improvements.
Sonny stands in that southwest quadrant. The same Hill Rag report named the holiday tree lighting as one of the park's clear successes, along with the end of the Barracks Row July 4th parade at the pavilion. In other words, the redesigned plaza was built around a tradition that was already there. The tree lighting gave the new space one of its two fixed dates on the calendar.
The newest piece of the plaza arrived after the 2021 opening. Jay Coleman's "Loveful Hands" is a 5-by-7-foot bronze of hands arranged so the fingers and thumbs form a heart, designed for people to sit in and take selfies. In early 2024 Hill Rag noted that the sculpture's platform was in place but the bronze had not yet been installed. The Capitol Hill BID announced its arrival at a welcome with DGS Director Delano Hunter, DPR Director Thennie Freeman, Councilmember Charles Allen, ANC Commissioner David Sobelsohn and the artist. If you are going to the lighting with family in town, the bronze heart makes an easy photo spot a short walk away.
The Sundays Around the Tree Lighting Belong to a Book Sale
The tree lighting falls on a Saturday. On the Sundays on either side of it, and once more in December, the same plaza turns into a used bookstore. Turning the Page, a nonprofit whose stated mission is to connect public schools, families and the community, runs pop-up sales called Carpe Librum. According to the Carpe Librum page, the sales offer gently used books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl records, and 100% of proceeds go to educational resources for families in Wards 1, 5, 7 and 8.
Turning the Page calls these one-day events a "bookstore in a day." It describes bringing tens of thousands of books to each sale, across fiction, classics, biography, world history, picture books, young adult titles and more. Its DC page has advertised books, CDs and DVDs at "$7 and under," though that pricing dates from 2025 and may have changed. The sales move around the city. The organization lists partners including Capitol Riverfront, Georgetown Main Street, the Adams Morgan BID, the SW BID and Logan Circle Main Street. The Eastern Market dates are the Hill's stop on that circuit.
Turning the Page lists its three remaining 2026 plaza dates as 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Barracks Row Main Street's calendar lists the same sales ending at 3 p.m. If you want the best selection, a morning visit works under either schedule. Carpe Librum also takes book donations, and you can email [email protected] to schedule a pickup. That makes these Sundays a convenient time to clear a shelf before the holidays.
Mid-November to Mid-December, Date by Date
Each of these events has a different organizer. Most happen on the plaza or within a short walk of the Metro entrance.
- Sunday, November 15: Carpe Librum book sale at Eastern Market Metro Plaza, 701 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, run by Turning the Page.
- Saturday, November 21, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.: The 20th Annual Capitol Hill Tree Lighting at Sonny, in the southwest quadrant near 7th and D Streets SE, run by the Capitol Hill BID.
- Sunday, November 22: The second Carpe Librum sale on the plaza, the morning after the lighting.
- Sunday, December 13: The last scheduled Carpe Librum sale on the plaza for 2026.
- Saturday, December 19, noon: Wreaths Across America at Historic Congressional Cemetery. Eastern Market Main Street is helping the cemetery place remembrance wreaths on veterans' graves and is asking for wreath sponsors and Wreaths Day volunteers.
Eastern Market Main Street has also announced "The Holly Days" for November and December 2026. As of late October, its events page says more details are coming.
Across the street, Eastern Market at 225 7th St. SE keeps its regular schedule into the season. The weekend outdoor market of handmade arts, crafts and antiques runs Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., alongside the weekend farmers' line. The indoor hall is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The outdoor market also opens Tuesdays from noon to 4 p.m., and the market is closed Mondays, according to Eastern Market's visitor page. On November 21 the indoor hall stays open until 6 p.m., so you can shop there in the afternoon and cross 7th Street to the cedar in time for the 5:30 p.m. start.
Twenty years on, the Didden family will be back at 7th and D on November 21. If you are thinking about a home within walking distance of Eastern Market Metro Plaza, or about what a Capitol Hill address near Sonny is worth to the next buyer, Roger Taylor and the team know these blocks well. Let's Connect.
