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Liverpool International Jazz Festival 2026 line-up
Liverpool International Jazz Festival returns this month with a line-up of music talent from the UK, Europe and the US. The annual festival, which began in 2013, will be staged at Liverpool Hope University’s Capstone Theatre between February 26 and March 1. Stellar jazz musicians and singers set to take part in the 2026 festival include Tim Garland and Geoffrey Keezer, David Helbock and Julia Hofer, Zoe Rahman and Arun Ghosh, Robert Mitchell's Little Black Book, Martin Taylor
Britannia Waves the Rules returns to Hope Street
A powerful and poignant play which takes an unflinching look at the challenges faced by working-class young men in Britain today is set to return to the Hope Street Theatre this month. Playwright Gareth Farr’s Britannia Waves the Rules received acclaim when it was staged at the venue last autumn. Now Wirral’s Off the Ground Theatre, which presented the original production, is bringing it back for three nights only, from January 14-16. Carl Jackson is a young man from Blackpoo
Top musicals coming to Liverpool in 2026
The news may feel unremittingly gloomy, so what better distraction from real life than the chance to immerse ourselves in the Technicolor world of stage musicals for an hour or two? The UK is rich with triple threat talent and a range of all-singing, all-dancing shows, and lots of them are heading for an auditorium near you over the next 12 months. Some – like Legally Blonde, Dirty Dancing, Little Shop of Horrors and Mamma Mia! - are dependable favourites, some are sheer musi
Comedians coming to the Liverpool Playhouse in 2026
Mike Wozniak heads for the Liverpool Playhouse to kick off a busy year of comedy at the Williamson Square venue. The Bench is a new stand-up show in which a story about a bench will be prominent. Previous experience of or strong opinions about benches not required. Catch Wozniak on January 23 and again on September 11. It’s Nameste from Omid Djalili on February 12 when he peacefully bows to his inner anger and unleashes a torrent of comedic vitriol upon the current state of
Cracking comedy to catch in Liverpool in 2026
Is everyone in Liverpool a comedian? If not, the UK’s unofficial ‘capital of comedy’ certainly punches way above its weight when it comes to knowing how to enjoy a good laugh. So it’s perhaps no surprise funny men and women from across the country – and beyond – are always keen to bring their live shows to the city. Along with bespoke comedy clubs and regular comedy nights, star names and rising talent also perform at mainstream venues like the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool Playh
Michael D Xavier on Poppins to Pie Jesu ahead of Liverpool Empire debut
He’s been in some of the biggest shows on both sides of the Atlantic – but for Michael D Xavier, his latest role takes him right back to the earliest years of his stellar stage career. In 2003, while he was playing the lovelorn young Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, he spotted a poster inviting people to take part in a reading for a new musical. “It’s more than 20 years ago now, so my memory is a bit vague, but I don’t believe they told us
Big gigs in Liverpool during 2026
Liverpool isn’t the official capital of pop, a UNESCO City of Music AND the birthplace of the most famous band the world has ever seen for nothing. Music runs through Liverpool’s veins like the Mersey runs into Liverpool Bay, and you can hear it wherever you go, on the streets, in the parks and spilling out of venues from tiny bars to giant auditoriums. So it’s no surprise that some of the biggest, best and most loved bands and artists make sure they include it on their touri
Smithdown Litfest reveals Roger McGough as first guest of new-look annual festival
Smithdown Litfest is marking its 10 th anniversary in 2026 with a new format – and a welcome for one of Liverpool’s literary greats. The annual festival of the written word, which usually runs for a week each September, is now set to become a year-round literary festival which organisers say will enable it to offer even more fascinating events with top authors and rising star writers. The first event in the new format takes place at Ullet Road Unitarian Church on January 24
Kirkby Ski Slope inspires new Royal Court comedy
The real-life story of the infamous Kirkby Ski Slope has inspired a new comedy coming to the Liverpool Royal Court stage next summer. Liverpool playwright Kieran Lynn has written Taking the Piste which will be staged at the Roe Street theatre from June 19 to July 18, 2026. Donald Storm is head of Kirkby Council, and he’s got an eye on creating a new destination for tourists from around the world. And if he can make a few bob in the process, so much the better. Together with h
Tate Liverpool reveals Ed Ruscha display for 2026
Tate Liverpool is hosting a new exhibition of work by influential contemporary American artist Ed Ruscha at its temporary waterfront home. ARTIST ROOMS: Ed Ruscha is on show from February 12 to June 14 at Tate Liverpool + RIBA North on Mann Island. The display, centred on the driving culture of mid-century America and the emerging architecture of Los Angeles, features books, photographs, paintings, drawings and lithographs. Ruscha, who was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1937 and
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