Finally: ESL FACEIT officially announces DreamHack Birmingham
4 February 2026
Rumours have been doing the rounds for quite some time and now, ESL FACEIT has finally made the long-awaited announcement: DreamHack is coming to Birmingham! Not next year or “in the near future”, but very soon, at the end of March to be exact. From Friday, March 27, until Sunday, March 29, the NEC Arena in Birmingham will provide the backdrop for DreamHack Birmingham 2026. Great news for all esports and gaming fans in the United Kingdom, and a major milestone for esports in the UK as a whole.
DreamHack Birmingham 2026
Since its first edition with just a couple dozen participants in Sweden back in 2013, DreamHack has grown into one of the world’s biggest and most premier gaming festivals. Throughout the years, the event has been organised all over the world, including in Cologne (Germany, 2014), Atlanta (United States, 2017) and Shanghai (China, 2024). DreamHack was also organised in the United Kingdom once before, in London in 2018.
Therefore, DreamHack Birmingham 2026 is not the festival’s inaugural edition in the United Kingdom, but it is the first time it is being organised in Birmingham. That is significant as well, because the city and region have been presenting themselves as a major hub for esports in the UK over the past few years.
Major events during DreamHack
As usual, DreamHack will not be just about the festival, but also about various major esports events that are taking place during the same weekend. Some of the events and tournaments to be played in Birmingham during DreamHack:
Dota 2
DreamHack organiser ESL FACEIT is also the driving force behind the ESL One series, a prestigious esports tournament featuring different titles. The ESL One Dota 2 event this year will take place during DreamHack Birmingham 2026.
Call of Duty
DreamHack Birmingham 2026 will also host the second Call of Duty League (CDL) major of the year. This will bring the best Call of Duty teams in the world to the British Midlands to compete for a share of the $ 350.000 prize pool (about £265.000).
Halo
There will be various Halo events during DreamHack Birmingham 2026, but most eyes will be on the Halo Infinite 4v4 tournament. A prize pool worth $ 86.000 (around £ 62.000) has been guaranteed for this event by ESL FACEIT.
Much more than gaming
As we wrote before though, DreamHack is about gaming and esports, but not just that. It is a festival, after all, with lots more entertainment and events besides gaming tournaments and esports competitions. Take the Cosplay Competition, for example, for cosplayers of all fandoms and a prize pool of no less than £ 8.000. Or what about the “Chat vs. Champs” challenge? Here, visitors can take on champs in a range of challenges and if the champ loses, he or she will need to submit to the feared Wheel of Punishments.
And if you simply want to see the latest in terms of gaming, tech and fandom, you can visit the enormous expo area. This will give you the chance to see what brands, exhibitors and partners of DreamHack have in store in terms of latest gear, wildest ideas and the next big things (in gaming culture).