Peter Kay tickets: what time do tour tickets go on sale, how to buy Peter Kay tickets, how much do they cost?

Peter Kay announced his first tour in 12 years and demand for tickets were incredibly high. The comedian will be hitting the road in December and throughout 2023 to play arenas across the country. He had previously announced a tour five years ago but stepped back from the spotlight.

The 49-year-old comedian, who has been largely absent from the public eye for the last four years, will embark on an arena tour spanning the next nine months. Tickets start at £35. It will be his first live tour since 2010, when he scored the Guinness World Record for the biggest selling run of all time, playing to more than 1.2 million people.

The pre-sale tickets sold out in one day but not after O2 Priority crashed due to the demand. General sale began on Saturday (12 November) at 10am.

Kay said: “It’s good to get back to what I love doing best, stand-up comedy and if there’s ever a time people need a laugh it’s now. And with the cost of living at an all-time high, ticket prices are starting from £35. The same price they were on my previous tour in 2010.”

If you are wanting to get tickets for the tour, there is plenty you need to know. Here is all the key information:

When do tickets go on sale and how much do they cost?

Tickets for Peter Kay’s arena tour went on sale on Saturday 12 November. The sale began at 10am and tickets were available from Peter Kay’s official website. Tickets are also available from Ticketmaster. The prices are the same as his previous tour in 2010. Tickets start at £35.

Kay’s comeback was announced during an advertisement break in the series launch of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! on ITV. Ticketmaster revealed its top tips for securing tickets for Peter Kay’s first UK tour in 12 years.

There is currently limited availability of tickets across all dates.

When was the pre-sale?

Three+ pre-sale

There was a pre-sale for Three customers, which began at 10am on Thursday (10 November). The Three+ pre-sale was for the following tour dates:

• AO Arena, Manchester - 2 and 3 December
• First Direct Arena, Leeds - 20 January and 19 May
• Utilita Arena, Newcastle - 9 and 10 March

To access this pre-sale ticket window, fans needed to be a Three UK customer (Pay Monthly or Pay As You Go) and have downloaded and registered on the Three+ app before pre-sale opens.

O2 priority pre-sale

For O2 customers, the O2 Priority rewards system also had a pre-sale for Peter Kay’s UK tour. It covered the full 2022 and 2023 tour. The pre-sale began at 10am on Thursday (10 November) and was accessible via the O2 Priority app.

When did the pre-sale end?

It came to an end prior to the general sale, which began at 10am on Saturday (12 November). However Virgin announced that the pre-sale had sold out as of 5.50pm on Thursday.

The company tweeted: “We’ve sold out our Priority Tickets for Peter Kay. We’ve seen extraordinary demand, our most popular presale ever. We’re sorry not all our customers were successful. General sale tickets for The O2 + UK arenas are released Saturday 10am. We wish everyone the best of luck!”

Is the O2 website down?

Users were struggling to access the O2 priority app and website due to the demand from people trying to get their hands on Peter Kay tickets. It is his first tour in 12 years.

On social media, O2’s official account tweeted: “We’re seeing extraordinary demand for Peter Kay. We know customers are struggling to get on to our Priority website and app before 10am, we’re working on it. Please be patient, thank you.” An apology has now been issued for the disruption during the early stages of the pre-sale on Thursday.

Where are the shows on the tour?

Kay will begin his tour on December 2 at the Manchester AO Arena before visiting locations including Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Belfast, Newcastle, Glasgow and Dublin.

His run will end on 11 August 2023 at the Sheffield Utilita Arena. Peter Kay’s website has crashed from demand following the announcement.

The full list of tour dates are as follows:

• Friday 2 December - AO Arena, Manchester
• Saturday 3 December - AO Arena, Manchester
• Friday 16 December - The O2, London
• Saturday 17 December - Utilita Arena, Birmingham
• Friday 6 January - M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
• Saturday 7 January - M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
• Friday 20 January - First Direct Arena, Leeds
• Saturday 21 January - The O2, London
• Friday 17 February - Utilita Arena, Sheffield
• Saturday 18 February - The O2, London
• Thursday 23 February - SSE Arena, Belfast
• Friday 24 February - SSE Arena, Belfast
• Thursday 9 March - Utilita Arena, Newcastle
• Friday 10 March - Utilita Arena, Newcastle
• Wednesday 22 March - The O2, London
• Thursday 23 March - Resorts World Arena, Birmingham
• Thursday 6 April - 3Arena, Dublin
• Friday 7 April - 3Arena, Dublin
• Saturday 22 April - The O2, London
• Friday 5 May - OVO Hydro, Glasgow
• Saturday 6 May - OVO Hydro, Glasgow
• Friday 19 May - First Direct Arena, Leeds
• Saturday 20 May - The O2, London
• Saturday 3 June - The O2 lONDON
• Friday 16 June - Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff
• Saturday 17 June - Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff
• Friday 14 July - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
• Saturday 15 July - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
• Saturday 29 July - The O2, London
• Friday 11 August - Utilita Arena, Sheffield
• Wednesday 30 August - The O2, London
• Saturday 9 September - The O2, London
• Saturday 7 October - The O2, London
• Saturday 18 November - The O2, London

He is rumoured to have returned to the stage recently, sparking talk that a tour would be announced. It has now been confirmed starting in December 2022.

According to various reports and a number of fans on Twitter, Kay performed a top secret show in Salford, where fans got to enjoy some new material from the comedian.

What happened to Peter Kay?

Kay has kept a low profile for the last five years. He had been due to embark on a Live Arena Tour between April 2018 and June 2019, but he cancelled this in December 2017 due to “unforeseen family circumstances”. No further detail about the circumstances have ever been confirmed.

As well as his Live Arena Tour, he also cancelled his Dance For Life shows. At the time, he issued a statement, apologising to those who had purchased tickets.

The statement read: “Due to unforeseen family circumstances I deeply regret that I am having to cancel all of my upcoming work projects. This unfortunately includes my upcoming stand-up tour, Dance For Life shows and any outstanding live work commitments. My sincerest apologies. This decision has not been taken lightly and I’m sure you’ll understand my family must always come first.

“I’ve always endeavoured to protect my family’s privacy from the media. I hope that the media and the public will continue to respect our privacy at this time. Once again I’m very sorry.”

Kay, who has often spoken about how important family is to him and his desire to live a private life away from the spotlight, has not been seen in public many times since the cancellation of the shows.