Washington DC - Film legend Francis Ford Coppola and psychedelic rockers the Grateful Dead will be honored at a glitzy celeb-filled Washington gala Sunday along with blues singer Bonnie Raitt and jazz artist Arturo Sandoval.

The annual Kennedy Center Honors, among the highest American arts designations, see Washington's political elite rub shoulders with the cream of the cultural crop as entertainment A-listers descend on the seat of American political power.

The Apollo – the globally celebrated Harlem music venue that launched myriad careers and bore witness to sociocultural revolution – will also receive an honor, the first time one of the awards will go to an arts institution.

It will be the last gala in the presence of President Joe Biden, as the US president traditionally sits with the honorees in the Kennedy Center opera house.

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Donald Trump bucked the norm and did not attend during his presidency after several of the honored artists threatened to boycott the gala in his first year in office if he came.

It's not unlikely that such political theatrics may loom over the event again once Trump returns to the White House next year.

The glamorous night raises funds for the performing arts center that serves as a living monument to the late President John F. Kennedy.

Honorees received their medallions at the State Department's traditional Saturday night ceremony.

Sunday's gala will be marked by performances that are kept a tight secret until showtime, with the honorees also in the dark about which fellow stars will pay tribute to them.