DreamHack has confirmed the full competitive lineup for its UK festival, scheduled to take place at the NEC Birmingham from 27-29 March 2026. The event will feature a combined prize pool of nearly $1.7 million, marking one of the largest financial stakes for a single-location esports event in British history.

The festival’s arrival signals a major expansion for the ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) in the United Kingdom, positioning Birmingham as a temporary global hub for several tier-one competitive circuits.

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The festival’s headline attraction is ESL One Birmingham, a $1,000,000 Dota 2 tournament hosted at the bp pulse LIVE arena. The competition features 16 elite teams, including recent ESL One Raleigh champions Parivision, alongside organisations like OG, Team Spirit, and Team Falcons. Beyond the MOBA scene, the event will host the Call of Duty League (CDL) Major II, where 12 franchised teams—including high-profile rosters like OpTic, FaZe, and Cloud9—will compete for a $365,000 prize pool.

A significant portion of the weekend is dedicated to the Road to the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026. DreamHack Birmingham will serve as a decisive qualifying ground for the massive Riyadh-based finals later this year. Competitors in FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, Street Fighter 6, and Trackmania will battle for their share of a $100,000 qualifying prize pool and direct seeds into the EWC.

Additionally, the Call of Duty: Warzone Resurgence Series will hold its first live LAN finals of the year in Birmingham, offering a pathway to a separate $1 million championship at the EWC. The event’s reach extends into “grassroots” and sim-racing territory, featuring a $100,000 Halo Infinite open bracket.

For non-professional attendees, the festival includes an “Indie Playground” for independent developers, an expo floor for hardware manufacturers, and a “Creator Hub” for community meet-ups. This multi-title approach mirrors the “gaming lifestyle” model that has defined DreamHack in Sweden and the US, aiming to establish the UK event as a permanent fixture on the European calendar.

Tickets for the three-day festival are currently available starting at £25, providing access to the main NEC floor and various tournament stages.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article mentioned that one more tournament was part of the event. However, the organisation clarified that its inclusion at the official press release was made by mistake and the event is not in DreamHack Birmingham’s schedule at this time.

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