Spellers have already been trading signatures and making friends since Sunday. But tonight, they finally were welcomed to the Bee in an opening ceremony.
At the ceremony, spellers, sponsors and those close to spellers came to the stage representing the tenants of the Bee: its purpose, its heritage, its ability to inspire growth, nurture potential, discover, achieve and entertain.
The representatives included Ruth Keim, a sponsor from Pennsylvania who came on stage clad in her Bee Week best - a bee scarf and slippers and bee antennae. Michael York, a 1982 speller, is the father of speller 281, Thomas York. And Aishwarya Pastapur, who finished second in 2009, is the sister of speller 3, Sharanya Pastapur.
And then there were the spellers themselves: Kasey Torres, speller 212, who is in his third bee. Harshita Shet, speller 173, who is in her fourth. Rutvik Gandhasri, speller 189, who finished sixth last year. And Deneiro Hines, speller 122, who represents Jamaica's long spelling bee tradition.
2016 co-champions Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga came out carrying their trophies and officially opened the Bee.
"We need some more buzz!" Nihar shouted, after asking the crowd if they were ready.
And then we were off.