BRITs Week 26 for War Child, delivered by DHL, has officially widened its plans for 2026, welcoming global soul standout Olivia Dean, space rock icons Spiritualized and chart leading favourites The K’s to an already packed run of intimate performances.
The upcoming edition also signals a major moment for the event, with The BRIT Awards heading to Manchester for the first time. To mark the move, BRITs Week will extend beyond London, with shows set for Newcastle, London, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Brighton and Manchester.
New Headliners and Exclusive UK Dates
The newly announced artists bring some of the country’s most celebrated names into close up venues across the UK.
February 18th sees Spiritualized step onto the stage at London’s EartH Theatre.
On February 20th, The K’s arrive at Manchester’s Gorilla following their recent number one album success.
February 26th will see five time BRIT nominee Olivia Dean deliver a soulful performance at Manchester’s Albert Hall.
Alongside the headliners, the first round of support acts has been revealed, including Bimini, Max Jones, Saint Raymond, Gabriella Cilmi and emerging R and B artist CARI.
Intimate Shows for a Global Cause
Around one in five children worldwide, more than 520 million, are currently living with the impact of conflict. Money raised through these shows goes directly toward War Child’s vital work, helping to provide education and mental health support for children affected by war.
The 2026 programme begins on February 12th in Newcastle with Fatboy Slim and continues with a wide ranging line up, including Lambrini Girls in London on February 16, Myles Smith in Nottingham on February 24, and a joint performance from Jack Savoretti and Katherine Jenkins OBE on February 25.
How to Get Tickets
With venues kept deliberately small, demand is expected to be extremely high and tickets are likely to disappear fast.
Prize Draw: Enter for just £10 HERE www.warchild.org.uk
General tickets go on sale at 10 am on Friday, January 30th.
NEWS
Sharon Osbourne has revealed she is holding early discussions about bringing Ozzfest back in 2027 as a tribute to her late husband Ozzy Osbourne.
The iconic metal festival was last staged as a full standalone event in 2018, followed by a one off New Year’s Eve show in 2019. Sharon now feels interest in a proper return is stronger than ever and says initial talks are already underway with Live Nation. Her vision is for a comeback that is larger in scale, more inclusive in sound and truly international in reach.
Speaking to Billboard, she said: “It was something Ozzy was very passionate about: giving young talent a stage in front of a lot of people. We really started metal festivals in this country. It was [replicated but] never done with the spirit of what ours was, because ours was a place for new talent. It was like summer camp for kids.”
Sharon has also made it clear she wants the festival to grow with its audience, suggesting the next version of Ozzfest could reflect modern listening habits by opening the door to a wider range of sounds beyond traditional metal.
She later added: “I’d like to mix up the genres.”
Should the plans come together, Ozzfest would once again travel internationally, recalling its late nineties and early two thousands peak when it became both a launching pad for emerging bands and a major platform for established heavy acts.
In an earlier episode of The Osbournes Podcast, Ozzy, who died in July 2025 aged 76, asked whether the festival could ever return. Sharon responded without hesitation: "Yeah, sure. Of course."
Their daughter Kelly then raised the issue of rising booking fees, suggesting that managers need to be more realistic when negotiating festival appearances.
Sharon responded: "Why is it when it comes to us that everybody thinks that we are trillionaires, and so that every manager who wants their band on our festival wants one of the trillions they think we’ve got to put on the festival?”
Ozzfest was originally founded by Ozzy and Sharon in 1996, at a time when she was also managing the Black Sabbath frontman, and began life as a two day event.
A year later, the festival expanded into a touring format, although by the time it returned in 2018 it had been scaled back to a single night at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
That final edition featured Ozzy at the top of the bill alongside artists such as Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and Korn’s Jonathan Davis.
