Esports and gaming festival DreamHack will head to the United Kingdom with a three-day event in Birmingham alongside Dota 2’s ESL One in March 2026.

DreamHack Birmingham 2026 will mark the first time a DreamHack festival has been held on UK soil in its 20-year history. ESL One Birmingham, on the other hand, will return for its fourth iteration, featuring 16 of the world’s top Dota 2 teams competing for the event’s $1m (~£732,000) prize pool.

Whilst this marks the first time DreamHack is arriving in the UK under its new ‘festival’ format, the brand did previously host an event in the country a decade ago. DreamHack Open 2015took place at the Copper Box Arena in London as a multi-title esports tournament featuring Ultra Street Fighter IV, CS:GO, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Super Smash Bros. Melee.

DreamHack Birmingham 2026 and ESL One will run across two venues operated by the NEC Group. DreamHack Birmingham takes place from March 27th to 29th, 2026, at the NEC. Meanwhile, ESL One Birmingham is scheduled for March 22nd to 29th, 2026, at bp pulse LIVE.

“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,” commented Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands. 

“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.”

The two events come after ESL One Birmingham 2024 received £145,000 in funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and the UK Government. DreamHack’s parent company, ESL FACEIT Group, hasn’t revealed if it has secured a similar deal for 2026.

Tickets for both events go on sale from September 23rd at 15:00 BST. DreamHack’s three-day passes will start at £39.00 during the first two weeks, increasing to £59.00 thereafter. ESL One guaranteed seating tickets start from £89.00, with add-ons available.

DreamHack Birmingham 2026 will feature a range of esports tournaments, cosplay, live music, creator activations, tabletop games, and more. Additionally, the Call of Duty League could also return to the UK at the festival, according to a Dexerto report.

Last year’s edition of the ESL One Birmingham recorded a peak viewership of 328,345, per Esports Charts. ESL FACEIT Group noted in a release that the competition drew 18,000 attendees across its three days.

The most recent edition of ESL One was Raleigh 2025, which was the first in-person Dota 2 event in North America in a decade.

PARIVISION was crowned the champions, defeating Team Spirit in the grand final and securing back-to-back ESL One trophies.