The temperature may be hovering in the minus Celsius range, but president-elect Barack Obama will head to the National Mall later Sunday to party.

With the Lincoln Memorial as a backdrop, Obama will be celebrated by a free superstar-studded concert that boasts a dream line-up of the music world's biggest stars: Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Usher, U2, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, John Mellencamp, Shakira, Mary J Blige, Herbie Hancock, Josh Groban, John Legend and James Taylor.

Since it's an outdoor event, local stores were by all accounts besieged by last minute shoppers bulking up with warm coats and boots to armour against temperatures that dipped Saturday to minus 12 degrees Celsius.

At the Pentagon City shopping center, the only ear muffs available were by Burberry for 150 dollars. One woman trying on several pairs of boots at Nordstrom was soon surrounded by anxious fellow shoppers eyeing hungrily her rejects.

An estimated 1 million people are expected to attend the concert, many of them flooding in from out of town for the events leading up to Tuesday's inauguration of Obama as the 44th president.

The concert event, called "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial," will feature the stars singing a selection of songs relevant to the occasion rather than a pastiche of their greatest hits.

Historical passages will also be read by singer Queen Latifah and actors Jamie Foxx and Denzel Washington. Amid all the stars the greatest attraction will, of course, be Obama, who is expected to attend.

Getting the line-up of stars together was no problem, said producer George Stevens Jr. Even performers like Springsteen and Bono said yes within minutes of asking.

"Everybody is going to do one song, but there were will be duets and trios and choirs," Stevens told the Washington Post. "We're never going to say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for Beyoncé'," said another producer, Don Mischer. "It's going to be connecting music to history and ideas and American values."

Massive stages were being built at the Lincoln Memorial, the site of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech. Jumbotrons were being installed so that the expected crowd of 1 million people will get a glimpse of the performers even if standing far away from the action.

A concert on this scale - Bill Clinton is the only other president to have held such an event before his inauguration - reflects the solid popularity that has propelled Obama into office.