One of the most iconic steam trains of all time will be travelling through the Greater Manchester countryside this summer.
East Lancashire Railway (ELR) says it’s ‘delighted’ to announce the return of the magnificent LNER Class A3 60103 Flying Scotsman – which is also, affectionately, known as ‘The People’s Engine’ – to its historic train line next summer in June, courtesy of both the National Railway Museum and Northern Steam.
The record-breaking engine is making a long-anticipated return to the line, bringing with it the unmistakable sights, sounds, and nostalgia of the ‘Golden Age’ of steam travel.
This is a rare opportunity to see the engine up close and to feel the power and presence of one of Britain’s most iconic locomotives.
The legendary steam engine will be giving passengers the chance to hop onboard for the ride on various dates throughout June (5, 6, 7, 13 and 14 June), so enthusiasts can make the most of this unforgettable opportunity to travel on this world-famous train.
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For those who prefer a closer look, the Flying Scotsman will be on static display on selected dates throughout June too.
Luxury dining experiences aboard one of ELR’s beautifully restored heritage carriages will also be available to book on the days the Flying Scotsman is here in Greater Manchester.
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Unfamiliar with the Flying Scotsman? The train first entered service in 1923, and since then has become a British icon, representing the very best of steam-era innovation. It was the first steam locomotive officially recorded at 100 miles per hour, and over a century later, it continues to attract attention all over the world.
The train’s journey has not always been an easy one though, from budget cuts to multiple ownerships and painstaking restorations – yet through it all, Flying Scotsman has remained a beloved part of the UK’s cultural heritage.
Flying Scotsman’s visits to Greater Manchester drawn record crowds in previous years, and 2026 is set to be no exception.
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“We are delighted and proud to once again warmly welcome back the world’s most iconic locomotive, Flying Scotsman, as it returns to the East Lancashire Railway for a five-day visit in June,” commented Mike Kelly, who is the Chairman of the ELR.
“We have an exciting programme of events planned for all our visitors and enthusiasts to enjoy the unique experience of riding behind Flying Scotsman or visiting the footplate and creating wonderful memories.”
Find out more and book tickets to see the Flying Scotsman next summer here.
Featured Image – ELR (via Supplied)
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Ozzy Osbourne to be posthumously honoured with BRITs Lifetime Achievement Award
Emily Sergeant
Ozzy Osbourne is set to be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 BRITs tomorrow.
The BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard has announced that global rock icon Ozzy Osbourne, the celebrated founding member and frontman of Black Sabbath, and pioneering ‘godfather’ of British heavy metal – who sadly passed away last July – will be honoured at this year’s ceremony this weekend (Saturday 28 February).
Ozzy will be honoured with the BRITs Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition and celebration of his ‘inimitable impact and influence’ on music worldwide.
The award will be accepted on Ozzy’s behalf when the BRITs comes to Manchester for the first time ever at Co-op Live.
With over 100 million worldwide album sales achieved over five decades, a legendary catalogue of music – including 19 studio albums, and eight live albums with Black Sabbath, as well as 13 studio albums as a solo artist – Ozzy Osbourne is undoubtedly one of music’s most influential icons of all time.
The many industry accolades awarded to Ozzy across his career include five GRAMMYs, an induction into both the UK Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (both with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist, in separate years), and the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement – and now the BRITs honour is the latest to add to the list.
“Ozzy Osbourne has been a mighty force in modern music,” commented Stacey Tang, who is the Chair of the 2026 BRIT Awards Committee and Co-President of RCA Records at Sony Music UK.
“Possessing an unmistakable voice and unique presence, he reshaped the sound and spirit of rock, inspiring generations of artists who followed. This Lifetime Achievement Award recognises a remarkable legacy built on originality and enduring influence, that continues to connect with fans worldwide.”
The BRIT Awards are coming to Manchester for the first time in its history in 2026 / Credit: ITV / BRITs / Co-op Live
To celebrate Ozzy’s win, an all-star rock tribute performance – that will close the show on the night – will pay homage to him.
A special arrangement of ‘No More Tears’ – the title track from Ozzy’s multi-million selling 1991 album of the same name – has been curated by Sharon Osbourne.
The performance will boast a phenomenal line up of British and international musical talent, featuring musicians that played as part of Ozzy’s band over the years, and fronted by Robbie Williams, who has been invited personally by Sharon to be part of this special moment.
The BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard will take place on Saturday 28 February from Manchester’s Co-op Live, and audiences at home can watch on ITV live or stream later on ITVX.
Comedian and actor Jack Whitehall will return to presenting duties in 2026 – his sixth time hosting the show.
Featured Image – John Matthew Smith (via Wikimedia Commons)
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The 2026 BRIT Awards in Manchester – everything you need to know
Danny Jones
It’s nearly time: the 2026 BRIT Awards in Manchester are SO close, and we can barely contain our excitement, so much so that we’ve spent almost as much time trying to decide what we’re going to wear as we have figuring out what time we’re even setting off for Co-op Live.
Heading to the massive indoor arena and our region for the first time ever – this being the first of at least two years the awards will be spending up North – BRITs fever has well and truly gripped the city.
With murals, posters, DJ sets, live gigs and various other events popping up all over 0161, it almost feels like festival season has arrived early.
But with so much going on, it’s hard to keep track of everything, and we intend to soak up every single drop of this huge moment for us Mancs. So, from timings and travel to who’ll be performing throughout the night and more, here’s all the important details you need to know ahead of the 2026 BRIT Awards.
BRITs 2026 guide – all the key info
What time does the BRITs start at Co-op Live and on TV?
This year’s BRIT Awards will air on ITV1 and the ITVX streaming service at 8:15pm, and will also be free to watch online via their official YouTube channel for the first time ever.
It will also be the 13th year running that international viewers will be able to tune into the ceremony via the platform.
As for the pre-show festivities at Co-op Live, presenters Tyler West and Charley Marlowe will be hosting the BRITs 2026: ‘Live From The Red Carpet’ livestream, with the broadcast getting underway from 5:30pm onwards.
While an official arrival time for members of the public is yet to be fully confirmed by the venue, doors to the venue typically open at approximately 6:45pm, and as always, we would advise turning up with plenty of time to spare before the show gets going.
Who is performing at the BRITs this year?
Now, most of you already know that the likes of global pop phenomenon and Co-op Live investor himself, Harry Styles, is playing at this year’s BRITs – not to mention an extra special ‘intimate’ gig at the venue, too – as is fellow singer-songwriting superstar Olivia Dean.
That being said, they have continued to trickle out announcements of other acts joining the live music lineup for the 2026 BRITs, including names such as Wolf Alice, Mark Ronson and more.
For instance, they only just announced that popular London-born artist DJ AG will performing a special pop-up set outside Manchester Piccadilly train station on Friday, 27 February from 4-8pm; he’s also teased that some of the acts on the main bill could very well show their faces…
With all that in mind, in case one or two of them might have slipped by you, here is the full list of everyone confirmed to be performing on the night.
Who else is on the live music lineup in Manchester for BRITs Week ’26?
In case you’ve somehow missed the announcements, another big part of BRITs Week as a whole is the raft of very special intimate gigs happening not just here in Greater Manchester but across the country.
Besides the Foo Fighters announcing their own exclusive small-cap show at the O2 Ritz – with War Child UK also helping give away pairs of tickets – these nights are hosted to raise vital funds for the crucial charity that carries out work all over the world.
Teaming up with the BRIT Awards back in 2016, the pair have been generating money for the cause for over a decade now, and the names playing these War Child gigs have only gotten bigger over time.
Arguably the biggest of them all, British pop icon Robbie Williams also joined the list of performers of War Child x DHL charity gigs late on after the initial announcement, to make the comprehensive lineup of BRIT Awards performers truly unbelievable.
Find out who else is on it and which ones are happening in Manchester HERE.
What other events are happening in the city for the BRIT Awards?
Now, besides the pop-up DJ AG set we’ve already mentioned, there are literally TONNES of other bits going on in and around central Manchester to toast their Co-op Live debut.
From the likes of the partnered BRITs ‘FRINGE LAB’ taking place over at New Century Hall – a one-day musicindustry event and live showcase featuring local names like Nxdia, Chloe Slater and more – there is also an entirely FREE music festival happening at the Printworks for the very first time.
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There’s also the dedicated art trail around the city, put together by Manc creatives like Stanley Chow, Kim Thompson and ‘Oskar with a K’, just to name a few.
Oh, AND you’ve got the official ‘A Microdot Design’ exhibit at Piccadilly by Brian Cannon (the man behind Oasis’ Definitely Maybe and countless other bands’ artwork) as well, which has been curated specifically for this year’s BRIT Awards.
Gosh, we really are being spoiled rotten, aren’t we?
Put simply, there’s quite a lot going on this week and even after the ceremony and afterparties have wrapped up in the early hours of Sunday morning. You can see a more extensive list right HERE.
For those of you heading to Co-op Live to watch the BRIT Awards shows in person, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre and until 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s also worth noting that anyone with a valid BRITs ticket is granted FREE travel from all zones travelling to and from the venue.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue, but this must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU, and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide on event day, though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
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Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes on the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Afterparties and ‘rumours’
Last but not least, we already know that at leastone of the official BRITs afterparties is happening at Soho House on behalf of Sony, but it’s likely that different labels, promoters, artists, and so on will be hosting others at different locations around Manchester city centre.
We do know from when Northern Quarter hosted the Chanel Métiers d’art fashion show that plenty of A-listers went out to various NQ bars and restaurants in and around the event, so we’d wager on a fair few more doing the same on event weekend – especially any famous Mancs.
Not to make you lose your minds too much, but we’ve also heard talk of some rumoured guests turning up for the ceremony itself, so who knows who you might spot walking around this weekend?
All we’ll say is that if you want to catch a glimpse of any of them, be polite and Swift about it…
1 week to go!
That’s right, move over London, it’s our turn💪
The @BRITs take place in Manchester, at the @thecooplive, next Saturday, the first time it’s moved out of London.
Emily Sergeant -
29th December 2025 
