MOBO Awards 2026 Head to Manchester to Celebrate Show’s 30th Anniversary

The MOBO Awards’ 2026 variation volition beryllium held astatine Manchester’s Co-op Live connected March 26, becoming the latest U.K. euphony awards ceremonial to ditch the English capital.

For decades, London had hosted the immense bulk of ceremonies, centralizing galore of the industry’s euphony awards shows. In June, however, The BRITs announced that it would beryllium leaving London for the archetypal clip and taking the amusement to Manchester’s Co-op Live.

The Mercury Prize — a respected prize awarded yearly to outstanding British and Irish musicians — volition take spot successful Newcastle Oct. 16, the archetypal clip the ceremonial has been held extracurricular of London.

The MOBOs (Music of Black Origin) is the latest to swerve the superior and caput to Manchester for its 30th day show. The awards were archetypal held successful London successful 1996 and implicit the years has recognized home and planetary artists crossed U.K. hip-hop, R&B, garage, grime and jazz, and successful much caller years, stone and dance.

Over the past 2 decades, the MOBOs person been held crossed a fig of U.K. cities, archetypal taking spot successful Glasgow, Scotland, successful 2009, and since being held successful Liverpool (2012), Leeds (2015, 2017), Coventry (2021) and Sheffield (2024). The MOBOs were past held successful Newcastle, England, successful February this year, erstwhile Ayra Starr, Central Cee, Ezra Collective and Shenseea were among the winners.

Speaking connected the announcement, Bev Craig, person of Manchester’s metropolis assembly said, “We person a batch of expertise arsenic a metropolis successful delivering world-class events with a planetary reach, and unneurotic with our partners astatine Co-op Live and crossed the metropolis we’re determined to bash everything we tin to enactment MOBO successful making definite adjacent year’s lawsuit hits each the close notes and is the precise champion 1 yet.”

The 2026 ceremony’s afloat slate of performers and nominees volition beryllium shared implicit the coming months. The MOBOs besides announced a Fringe Festival volition instrumentality spot successful Manchester during the build-up to the main event, with a escaped programme that volition diagnostic manufacture panels, endowment showcases, unrecorded performances and originative workshops.