Mercury Prize to move to Newcastle for 2025 ceremony

The esteemed music prize will be hosted at Utilita Arena in Newcastle on 16th October 2025, in an unprecedented move away from the capital.

Date published: 8th May 2025

For the first time in its history, the Mercury Prize is breaking out of the borders of London. The prize, one of the most esteemed in British music, is making an unprecedented move to the North East for its upcoming ceremony at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena on 16th October 2025. The news arrives on the heels of the previous ceremony, where the award went to Leeds-based band English Teacher’s debut This Could Be Texas, the first time in over a decade where the winner came from outside the capital. 

The move comes as part of a fruitful collaboration between the awards body, Newcastle City Council, and the North East Combined Authority, and aims to celebrate the North East’s thriving creative scene. Following calls from the likes of previous winners Ezra Collective for the prize to diversify outside of London, 2025 will mark the award’s first foray outside of the capital in its three-decade-long history. As always, the ceremony will be broadcast on the BBC and will feature the 12 to-be-announced shortlisted artists putting on live performances. 

Previous winners have included Little Simz, Wolf Alice, and Arlo Parks, and this year's shortlist will be unveiled on Wednesday 10th September 2025. 

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