Ed Sheeran: when singer will play free gig at HMV Empire in Coventry - and how to get tickets

Pop sensation Ed Sheeran will perform a free concert for fans in Coventry this summer, it has been announced.

The gig will be held to celebrate the grand opening of HMV Empire in Hertford Street, with free tickets up for grabs in honour of the occasion.

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When will Ed Sheeran perform?

Ed Sheeran will perform at the venue on 25 August as part of the celebrations for the company’s centenary.

A total of 700 fans, aged 16 and over, will have the chance to see the Bad Habits singer in concert, with free tickets to be given away in a prize draw.

Speaking ahead of the upcoming gig, Sheeran said: "HMV is a store that I spent a lot of time in growing up and a place where I discovered lots of new music, so I'm looking forward to celebrating this milestone with them."

The venue has moved from Far Gosford Street and undergone a £500,000 re-development, with its new home now based on Hertford Street in Coventry.

The concert coincides with Coventry's year-long programme of arts events as the UK’s City of Culture.

Phil Rooney and Dave Brayley, the site's co-owners, said: "To have Ed Sheeran - one of the world's biggest artists - not only coming to Coventry but performing in our new venue, the HMV Empire, is simply mind-blowing."

How can I get tickets?

Those wanting to attend the free concert can register on HMV’s website from 08:00 BST to be entered into the prize draw to receive tickets.

HMV said that anyone who attends the concert will be required to have their temperatures checked before entry, as part of continuing measures to prevent further outbreaks of coronavirus.

The announcement comes just a day after all remaining legal lockdown restrictions lifted in England on 19 July.

The changes mean that limits on the numbers meeting indoors and outdoors have now been scrapped and all businesses can reopen, including nightclubs, for the first time since March 2020.

The government is recommending that businesses use “certification” as a basis of entry to venues deemed “high risk”, especially when prevalence of coronavirus is currently so high.

People can attend concerts, theatre and sports events and the one-metre-plus rule on social distancing has ended, as has the instruction to work from home.

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