Venue gets mixed reviews as National Spelling Bee returns to DC ahead of
White House UFC event
[May 27, 2026]
By BEN NUCKOLS
WASHINGTON (AP) — After 15 years at a convention center in suburban
Maryland, the Scripps National Spelling Bee moved this year to a grand
stage befitting the stakes of the competition: Constitution Hall,
Washington's largest dedicated concert venue.
Not everyone at this week's competition appreciates the change.
“I feel like they should not have moved it. The old venue was better.
Because it's a bit of a hassle, getting on the bus and going there and
then coming back,” said 14-year-old Yahya Mohammed, a three-time speller
from Hoffman Estates, Illinois. “The old venue was more spacious, and it
feels kind of isolated in the hotel.”
As the National Spelling Bee began with Tuesday's preliminary rounds,
spellers and their families marveled at the historical significance of
their new venue and the nearby cultural opportunities while also dealing
with logistical hurdles: crowded hallways, limited dining options and
shuttle bus rides to and from their hotel.
Built in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Constitution
Hall sits a few blocks from the Washington Monument and the White House.
Spellers and their families are staying at the nearby J.W. Marriott, a
favored haunt of lobbyists and interest groups, and the quickest route
to the competition venue would normally be a stroll across the Ellipse,
the grassy expanse south of the Executive Mansion.
However, the Ellipse is surrounded by temporary fencing and security
checkpoints as crews construct an outdoor octagon on the South Lawn of
the White House for UFC Freedom 250, a June 14 event timed for President
Donald Trump's 80th birthday and marking the 250th anniversary of the
nation’s founding.
“Two very disparate forms of entertainment,” said Rajeev Malhotra of
Boston, the father of speller Rajeev Malhotra, describing the bee and
the mixed martial arts extravaganza.
Venue change brings heavy security but plenty of history and culture
Security was beefed up at the hall, with guards and metal detectors
stationed at every entrance and explosive-sniffing dogs patrolling the
hallways. Three blocks away and three days earlier, a man opened fire at
a White House security checkpoint, injuring a bystander before he was
fatally shot by Secret Service officers.
At the prior venue, the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in
Oxon Hill, Maryland, spellers moved freely throughout the building,
roaming between their hotel rooms, the ballroom that housed the
competition stage and a massive food court where they grabbed quick
meals between last-minute study sessions.
“Last year was better,” said Arpit Aggarwal of Columbia, Missouri, whose
daughter, Ananya, is competing for the second time. “Everything was in
one place.”
“It's an adjustment,” Ananya's mom, Deepti Bahl, said diplomatically.
Other spellers appreciated the buzz of gathering downtown, saying it was
more appropriate for a national competition. The bee began in 1925 and
was held at a series of Washington hotels before it moved to the suburbs
in 2011.
“I just love being here, right next to the National Mall. You can see
the Smithsonian, you can see the Jefferson Memorial. It's such a lively
and unique city and I love being in the heart of it,” said three-time
speller Oliver Halkett, a 14-year-old from Los Angeles. “There's so much
history, there's so much culture. The memorials and the museums are
fascinating to go to.”
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Victoria Li, 12, of Eastvale, Calif., spells his word during the
preliminary round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee at DAR
Constitution Hall, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
 Speller Andie Seavey of Fairbanks,
Alaska, and her mom, Kristin, went to see the musical “The Great
Gatsby” at the National Theater next door to the hotel.
After 80 spellers were eliminated Tuesday during
onstage spelling and vocabulary rounds, the remaining 167
competitors reconvened at the hotel for a high-stakes written test
that determined the 100 or so who would move on to Wednesday
morning's quarterfinals. The competition concludes Thursday night.
At the spelling bee, the bell is not necessarily the end
Last year, Faizan Zaki won the National Spelling Bee even though he
misspelled a word and heard the dreaded bell rung by head judge Mary
Brooks. In fact, he knew it after a few letters. He stopped spelling
and told Brooks, “Just ring the bell.”
Faizan's flub let his two remaining competitors back in, since all
three misspelled during the round.
Kushi Gottimukkala of Morrisville, North Carolina, is one of a few
spellers competing this year who know what that feels like.
At her regional bee, sponsored by the NFL's Carolina Panthers, it
was down to Kushi and two other spellers for the final spot at
nationals. She misspelled “anchialine,” and she thought it was over,
only to see the other two spellers mess up.
Kushi rode the emotional roller coaster and ultimately got through.
“I was still thinking about the mistake, but I was also really
grateful that I got a second chance, and so I took that into
consideration and decided to focus on my next word,” she said.
Spellers have to prepare for the possibility that missing a word
isn't necessarily the end.
Oliver Halkett, too, has competed in a bee where he got a word wrong
but wasn't eliminated. He battled through the disappointment by
focusing only on the word in front of him.
“It's a peculiar situation, but I think, above all, mental clarity
is so important, especially in those latter rounds,” he said. “I
close my eyes and do some deep breathing and I visualize the word,
and it's just me and the word. That's how you have to approach every
single word.
“Treat every word as if it's your first and last word.”
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