DreamHack and ESL One are coming to Birmingham UK next year

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 18/09/2025

DreamHack 2026 and ESL One are heading to the United Kingdom with an event in Birmingham in March 2026.

The three-day festival will take place in The NEC Arena, while ESL One will be held at bp pulse LIVE.

In its 20-year history, this will be the first time a DreamHack festival has taken place in the UK.

Meanwhile, this will be the fourth iteration of the ESL One Birmingham esports event.

Next year’s tournament will invite 16 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world to compete for the $1m (£738k) prize pool.

While this is the first UK DreamHack event in the UK under its current ‘festival’ format, it isn’t DreamHack’s first visit to the nation.

DreamHack came to the UK a decade ago with the DreamHack Open London 2015 tournament.

The multi-title event brought CS:GO, Street Fighter, Call of Duty, and Super Smash Bros Melee to the Copperbox Arena.

Next year, DreamHack Birmingham will take place from March 27th to March 29th, while ESL One is scheduled to start earlier on March 22nd.

DreamHack’s website promises other esports events outside of ESL One will take place at the festival and that there will be special guests.

These two events follow on from the ESL One Birmingham 2024 event which had £145k in funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and UK government.

And West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, is keen to encourage more esports events in the city:

“Esports has exploded into one of the fastest-growing parts of our economy. Our arenas are buzzing with global fans and players for events like DreamHack and ESL One.

“For us, it’s much more than entertainment. Our colleges and universities are full of young talent learning the skills to succeed in this multi-billion-pound industry.”

Tickets for both events will go on sale on September 23rd at 3pm UK time.

DreamHack’s three-day passes will cost £39 initially, but after two weeks this price will increase to £59 from then onwards.

ESL One guaranteed seating tickets, on the other hand, start from £89, with other add-ons available.

ESL One returns to Birmingham in 2026

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Next year will be the fourth ESL One Birmingham, following previous iterations in 2018, 2019, and 2024.

Last year’s Dota 2 tournament in Birmingham drew in a peak audience of over 328k online.

Additionally, the ESL FACEIT Group claims the 2024 event drew in 18,000 visitors over three days.

ESL One Birmingham 2024 was won by Team Falcons as they swept BetBoom Team 3-0 in the final.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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