From major global sporting moments to long-anticipated milestones, 2026 is set to be a big year.
Here are some events you might want to mark in your calendar.
January
Sagrada Familia completion
The construction of Barcelona’s famous church is set to be completed in “early 2026”, according to authorities, although an exact date has not yet been given.
Designed by architect Antoni Gaudí, the Sagrada Familia became the tallest church in the world in 2025 and features 18 towers, representing Jesus, Mary, the Evangelists, and the Apostles.
Building works began in 1882, and 144 years later, the central tower of Jesus Christ will finally be completed, marking the end of the lengthy process of building one of the world’s most iconic pieces of architecture.
February
Six Nations
The annual rugby union Six Nations contest gets underway on February 5, as France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Italy compete for the trophy.
France won the last contest, taking the title from Ireland, and matches will take place in stadiums across the six countries until March 14.
Winter Olympics 2026
The Winter Olympics and Paralympics will be held jointly between the Italian city of Milan and the mountain resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for February 6, and the tournament concludes on February 22.
Ski-mountaineering will make its Olympic debut, with several new events in pre-existing sports also being added to the roster.
At the last Winter Olympics in Beijing, Team GB took home two medals in total, a gold and a silver, both in curling.
It will be looking to improve on that showing next year, with GB hopefuls in ice dancing, bobsleigh, freestyle skiing, and snowboard disciplines.
Men and Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup
The men’s tournament. which will see 20 teams competing, is being hosted by India and Sri Lanka, and is set to begin on February 7.
The women’s tournament will be held in England and Wales, with 12 teams competing for the title. It gets underway on June 12 and will conclude on July 5.
India is the defending champion amongst the men’s teams, having won the contest in 2024.
New Zealand holds the title for the women going into the 2026 competition.
May
Local/Scottish/Welsh elections
The UK is set to hold elections in local authorities and devolved nations on May 7. Over 4,000 local council seats are up for election across the UK.
Wales will also elect 96 members to the Welsh Senedd on the same date, with Scotland voting for 129 members of the Scottish Parliament.
With Labour falling behind in opinion polls and appearing to cede support to Reform, the Lib Dems, and the Greens, many will view the results of these elections as a vote on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s performance in office.
After a difficult political year for the PM, a poor result for the government could reignite talks of a leadership challenge and Britain’s seventh prime minister in 10 years.
Eurovision
Eurovision will look a little different this May after multiple countries pulled out over Israel’s continued participation.
Spain, Iceland, Ireland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands have all withdrawn from the contest being held in Vienna next May.
Protests and boycotts are expected, and for those tuning in, the voting system might look different after changes designed to make it harder for governments to influence the public vote come into effect.
June
2026 World Cup
The Fifa 2026 World Cup kicks off on June 11, with the US, Mexico, and Canada sharing hosting duties for the tournament.
Donald Trump has shadowed the event, threatening the relocation of matches from cities whose elected officials fail to fall in line with his MAGA policies.
Football fans have also been left contending with steep ticket prices, ranging between £3,000 and £5,000, depending on the matches they attend and various ticket packages.
Fifa has since U-turned on some of these prices, annoucing 10% of the participant member association (PMA) allocation for each match will be priced at $60 (£45) – including for the final.
This will be the first World Cup to feature 48 teams.
Also for the first time, the top four-ranked sides – Spain, Argentina, France, and England – will be kept apart until the semi-finals in a tennis-style seeding system if they all win their respective groups.
England will start the tournament facing Croatia, Ghana, and Panama in group L, while Scotland will play for a place in the knock-out rounds against Brazil, Morocco, and Haiti in group C.
Ten-year Brexit anniversary
June 23 will mark 10 years since the country voted to leave the European Union.
The vote still splits opinion in the UK, and 10 years on, has begun to surface in political discussion, with both Labour and Lib Dem politicians talking of closer relationships with the continent.
The restarting of the Erasmus Exchange Scheme for students in the UK and EU was announced earlier this month, and the Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy suggested earlier this month the UK may benefit from considering rejoining a customs union for trade with the bloc.
No Glastonbury
It is a fallow year for Worthy Farm, with the UK’s largest music festival taking a break this June to allow the grounds to recover.
This happens every four years.
With no Pyramid Stage to play in 2026, don’t be surprised if smaller festivals seem to have a few more A-listers in their line-up.
July
America turns 250
July 4 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence anf official birth of the America we know today.
As well as hosting the Fifa World Cup, the White House is promising a “full year of festivities” to commemorate the occasion.
As well as a series of events, Donald Trump has also floated the idea of a permanent monument, taking the form of an Arc de Triomphe-style arch, to be built in the nation’s capital, Washington DC.
It is understood that the King is also set to use the occasion for an official visit to the US.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
Director Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s ancient Greek epic The Odyssey is set to hit screens on July 17. It is his first film since the Oscar-winning biopic, Oppenheimer and features a cast of A-listers including: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson and Mia Goth.
The film is reported to be the most expensive made by Nolan and is set to be filmed entirely on 70mm Imax cameras, making it the first commercial film to be shot in this way. Imax developed this new type of camera specifically for this film, naming it the “Keighley camera” in honour of David Keighley, IMAX’s first Chief Quality Officer, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 77.
The popularity of Nolan’s films and his insistence it be viewed in Imax cinemas has led to some fans prebooking tickets despite it not being released till halfway through the year.
Other major films are also set to see further instalments, with Dune, Marvel’s Avengers, The Hunger Games, The Mario Movie, Toy Story, and The Devil Wears Prada all set to release in 2026.
Commonwealth Games
2026 will feature a scaled-back Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow, after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting duties in 2023.
Running from July 23 to August 2, the event will feature just 10 sports – half the amount seen in 2022.
3×3 basketball, artistic gymnastics, athletics, bowls, boxing, judo, netball, swimming, track cycling, and weightlifting will all feature.
Cricket, hockey, rugby sevens, badminton, squash, table tennis, beach volleyball, rhythmic gymnastics, wrestling, triathlon, archery, and shooting have all been dropped.
Around 3,000 athletes from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories will compete in the games.
The event will also be notable for its lack of an athlete village, another step taken to keep down the event’s cost.
August
Total solar eclipse
A total solar eclipse is set to pass over the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean, northern Spain, and northeastern Portugal.
A total solar eclipse occurs in a narrow pathway over the Earth when the diameter of the Moon completely blocks that of the Sun, causing total darkness.
It will be the first total solar eclipse visible in Iceland since June 30, 1954, and the only one seen from there in the 21st century, as the next one visible over Iceland will be in 2196.
The last total solar eclipse in Spain happened on August 30, 1905 and followed a similar path across the country.
Don’t worry if you miss this one, as Spain is set to experience a second one just one year later in August 2027.
September
Bayeux Tapestry
France’s famous tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings will make the journey across the English Channel as it is loaned for display to the British Museum.
Arriving in September 2026, the nearly 70-metre-long tapestry will be open to the public for nearly a year.
It’s loan to the UK marks the first time the tapestry will have been on UK soil in over 900 years.
November
US midterms
Across the pond, the US will vote in midterm elections on November 3, with the potential for President Donald Trump to lose the majority he currently holds.
Every seat in the House of Representatives is up for election, along with a third of US Senate seats.
A poor result for Trump could result in the Republican Party losing its majority in both the House and Senate, making it harder for him to pass the legislation in what remains of his presidential term.
Grand Theft Auto VI
Rockstar’s much-anticipated video game is scheduled for a November 19 release after being delayed from an earlier May date.
The last game in the series will have, by then, come out over 13 years earlier, and with a development budget reported to be over $1bn (£750m), it is set to be one of the most expensive games ever made.
Rockstar released a trailer for the game two years ago, featuring the series’s first female protagonist and revealing the American setting for the game.December
2026 Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is presented every year on December 10.
Several names have been spoken of as in contention for the 2026 award, but perhaps most notably, US President Donald Trump, who has been openly campaigning for the prize for some time.
His work on global peace deals came too late to be nominated for the 2025 award, which was instead won by Venezuelan opposition leader and activist María Corina Machado.
Trump picked up Fifa’s inaugural peace prize at the World Cup group draw in Washington, but global eyes will be fixed on whether he secures the Nobel, and what his success or failure in doing so may mean for peace around the world.
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