DreamHack Birmingham confirms 2027 return following record-breaking debut show

After a stellar debut over the weekend, DreamHack Birmingham has announced the dates for the 2027 edition of the festival.

Starting out as a small, Swedish LAN event in 1994, DreamHack has grown into one of the world's biggest gaming festivals, and a centrepiece of the esports landscape.

While full-scale DreamHack festivals have taken place around the world for several years, DreamHack Birmingham marked the first time the event has been staged in the UK, swooping into the gap vacated by the now-defunct Insomnia Gaming Festival.

But while events like Insomnia have scaled back and disappeared in recent years, the success of DreamHack Birmingham confirms that the appetite for them is just as strong among the British public.

DreamHack Birmingham saw more than 54 thousand fans from 65 nations descend upon Birmingham's NEC for a celebration of all things gaming.

The event played host to a wealth of esports talent, with Dota 2's ESL One and Call of Duty's CDL Major II contributing to a £1.3 million collective prize pool.

Beyond esports, the event also saw on-stage cameos from content creators including AngryGinge and the Sidemen, a Dungeons & Dragons live play, cosplay competition and more.

On the success of the event, DreamHack VP of festivals Shahin Zarrabi spoke of the event's long-term plans: "The success of DreamHack Birmingham 2026 proves that the UK has been looking for a gaming epicentre to complement the national festival scene.

"We are proud to continue building this scale of entertainment for the community, and by committing to Birmingham for 2027, we are looking to establish a lasting legacy that is unique to the UK by setting a new gold standard."

DreamHack Birmingham will return to the NEC from 2-4 April 2027.

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