WASHINGTON — No one throws a party quite like the folks in the nation's capital, especially come inauguration time.

This year, the 55th presidential inauguration, will feature three days of parades, concerts, speeches, prayers, black-tie-and-gown balls from Jan. 18-21, and enough food and drink to feed some Third World countries for a year.

But Utahns seeking to join in the festivities — at least those who haven't already garnered tickets to the bevy of events — may find themselves on the outside looking in. Tickets allotted to the Utah delegation for the various balls have been sold out for some time, and only a handful of free tickets remain to the inaugural event itself.

"There has been a slow but steady stream of requests since the day after Election Day," said Scott Parker, spokesman for Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah. "Although it's not an overwhelming number of folks, those interested in coming are very interested and want to be here for sure."

The same "tickets are going fast" story is echoed by representatives of Utah's two Republican U.S. senators, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, and U.S. Reps. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and Jim Matheson, D-Utah. In fact, many predicted the few remaining tickets would be gone this weekend.

"It looks like we are full," said Meghan Riding, Cannon's spokeswoman. "But people can still visit our Web site for more information or send a request in case we have cancellations, although that is not very likely."

The representatives have been allotted roughly 180 tickets each for President Bush's inaugural speech, the senators about 400 each.

Free tickets to the inauguration can only be obtained through the state's congressional delegation, whereas most tickets to the parade and balls are obtained through the inauguration committee.

Utahns will participate in the Democracy Ball, along with the states of Arizona, California, Kentucky, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee.

Organizers of the festivities are raising $30 million to $40 million to pay for the festivities. As of week's end, none of the money had come from Utah donors, although the National Association of Realtors, headed by Utah state Sen. Al Mansell, R-Sandy, had contributed $50,000, according to the inaugural committee's Web site.

That money goes to pay for entertainment, security and caterers, among other things, but it does not go to help pay the travel costs of the various groups who will participate in the grand inauguration parade.