The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals will return to the AO Arena in Manchester early next year, with free tickets.
The huge event will be hosted by local comedian Jason Manford, and will bring together jaw-dropping performances from the biggest West End and touring musicals.
Audiences will be treated to hits from shows including Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, A Chorus Line, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, GREASE, Hadestown, and Guys & Dolls.
The massive glittering event will take place on Monday 22 January, to be aired on BBC One, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds at a later date.
And tickets for The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals are completely free – all you need to do is be a National Lottery player.
The 12,000 free tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from 1pm today, Thursday 30 November, at bignightofmusicals.com.
The event has been created to thank National Lottery players, who in the past year have helped support over 750 theatre-related projects across the UK.
Jason Manford will be joined by special guest, West End legend and singing sensation, Beverley Knight, who has starred in theatre shows including The Bodyguard, Cats, Memphis, Sylvia, and Sister Act.
Moulin Rouge will be one of the shows in The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals. Credit: Marc Brenner
The National Lottery has awarded more than £517m to arts projects across the country, with £46m of this going towards theatre related projects.
For The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals, players will be able to reserve up to four tickets for free, plus a £2 booking fee applies per ticket and proof of purchase of a National Lottery product is required.
Comedian, musical theatre performer and host Jason Manford said: “I’m thrilled to be hosting The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals once again.
“We’ve got another amazing line-up of smash hit shows for the Manchester Arena audience to enjoy. And the best thing about this show is that the tickets are free!
“It’s a thank you from The National Lottery to all the people who have supported the performing arts through these crucial years by playing each week.”
Beverley Knight, who also performed in the 2022 launch of The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals, said: “It’s great to be coming back to be part of this incredible show. The support National Lottery players make to the theatre industry is crucial to the performers and myriad of people – at large and small venues – who help make a night at the theatre so special.
“I can’t wait to see this astonishing line up of talent in Manchester belting out musical classics.”
Stereophonics have announced another UK tour this winter, including a massive Manchester gig
Danny Jones
British rock legends aren’t waiting around for long as after wrapping their most recent raft of shows, Stereophonics are getting straight back on the road at the end of the year for a UK winter tour, with big gigs in Manchester, London, Glasgow and more.
With tours in Australia and the US also coming in the interim, not to mention having just played multiple festivals right off the back of their own springtime shows, they’ve got to be one of the busiest and hardest-working bands around right now.
The legendary Welsh group released their new album, Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Cry, Make ‘Em Wait – which happens to be their 13 studio LP to date – back in April, and haven’t wasted any time in touring it, nor the all-time classics that have made them such a much-loved named here in the UK.
Now, though, fresh off a huge sell-out crowd at Finsbury Park down in the capital, lads are gearing up for more domestic shows,
Legendary Welsh band Stereophonics announce a UK Arena Tour for December 2025.@coopuk members get first in line for tickets Find out more: https://t.co/amNXniakHf Co-op Member Presale: 09:30 9 July 2025 General Sale: 09:30 11 July 2025 pic.twitter.com/BXLs7ZXftU
Their latest record went to number one back in May, which is then the ninth time they’ve achieved the feat, and the Cynon Valley veterans seem to show absolutely no signs of slowing down whatsoever.
We’ll Iechyd da to that.
Other shows here in the North of England include South Yorkshire’s Utilta Arena (our friends over at The Sheff will be buzzing with that one), as well as a Liverpool date at the M&S Bank Arena.
Earlier this month, the band also played another showstopping headline set at this year’s Isle of Wight festival, with music outlet Rolling StoneUK dubbing the band’s set as “the highlight of the night” that “upheld every expectation” for 55,000 festival goers.
It was much the same story at Finsbury this past weekend, too, which has already seen the likes of Fontaines D.C., Slayer, and soon Drake arrive for Wireless Fest 2025.
Making their Co-op Live debut when they arrive in Manchester this winter, Stereophonics are to play the world-leading arena on 12 December.
Official Co-op members get the first lot of early access via the venue’s presale window, which opens from 9:30am on Wednesday, 9 July, but general admission tickets will be available from the same time on the following Friday (11 July).
Mika announces first-ever arena gig in Manchester next year
Thomas Melia
Global popstar and certified hitmaker Mika announces massive gig in Manchester set for next year as part of a huge string of world tour dates.
If you hear the name Mika and don’t instantly scream out, “I could be brown, I could be blue I could be violet sky”, you’re definitely on the wrong side of history.
This star has been pumping out hits like no other with singles ‘Grace Kelly’, ‘Lollipop’, ‘Relax, Take It Easy’, and plenty more since entering the music scene back in 2007.
Back in 2013, the Lebanon-born performer even released a Wicked-inspired duet ‘Popular Song’ with honorary Manc, Ariana Grande, called ‘Popular Song’ – with the latter going on to play Glinda in the live action musical.
Mika is heading out on a world tour which visits Manchester next year.
Now, the global singer-songwriter is ready to head out on his biggest tour to date, and he’s playing a variety of venues, including our trusty 21,000 seater AO Arena.
The ‘Grace Kelly’ penman found himself hitting a career pinnacle back in 2022 when he co-presented one of the music calendar’s biggest highlights: the Eurovision Song Contest.
With six studio albums to his name and another LP on the way, this upcoming run of shows will be nothing less than impressive.
Our friends over at The Hoot got an exclusive preview of the title track from Mika’s upcoming album ‘Spinning Out’ when he played a special set as part of Sounds in the City at Millennium Square.
As well as being known for his smash hit singles, another big talking point is Mika’s extravagant stage, one we’re sure the Manchester crowd will be embracing with open arms.
The last time Mika paid Manchester a visit was just last year at one of the city’s many live music venues, O2 Apollo, on his ‘Apocalypse Calypso’ tour, and he’s clearly eager to see our lovely faces once again.
Mika is embarking on the ‘Spinning Out’ tour and paying a visit to AO Arena in Manchester on 11 February 2026, with tickets on sale from Friday 11 July at 10am HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
30th November 2023 
