There is plenty going on this year, but here’s a few of the top highlights.
Setting sail – Hull’s £65m maritime attractions unveiled
Hull Maritime – one of the UK’s most challenging and complex restoration projects – has taken over five years of work but will see the city become home to some of the country’s best-preserved seafaring attractions. The project’s complexities have meant the timeline has slipped, but now one of the biggest maritime restoration schemes in any UK city is finally set for completion. The historic Spurn Lightship is slated to re-open as a floating museum in spring 2026, along with the newly revamped Queen’s Gardens. Summer 2026 will see the opening of the Maritime Museum after a multi-million-pound upgrade. Also in summer, The Arctic Corsair, Hull’s last surviving sidewinder trawler, will welcome visitors again as part of a new £3.8m visitor attraction, featuring one of the most energy efficient buildings in the UK’s cultural and heritage sector. Hull has also been crowned one of National Geographic’s Best Places in the World to Travel in 2026.
Viking history to herald premier museum’s transformation
Lincoln’s flagship museum and gallery is set to re-open during summer 2026 after a million-pound, two-year transformation. Fresh from marking its 20th birthday in 2025, the most ambitious upgrade in the building’s history will see the unveiling of new features and a major Viking exhibition showcasing Lincolnshire’s heritage. Re-branded from The Collection to the Lincoln Museum, the new-look venue aims to strengthen the city’s reputation as a leading cultural destination. It will have a newly designed archaeology gallery, featuring a 4,000-year-old Bronze Age coffin and axe, found buried on a Lincolnshire golf course. A new exhibition will also explore the area’s links to the Vikings featuring immersive and hands-on experiences and rare artefacts.
A ‘Big Blue’ anniversary welcome
Hull and East Yorkshire’s ‘big blue wave of positivity’ is heading to Goole as the port town gears up to celebrate its bicentenary in 2026. After HEY! Volunteering played a huge role in the success of Hull as UK City of Culture 2017, the programme continued and expanded into Bridlington in 2024 – and is now heading to Goole. With a rich maritime heritage as the UK’s most inland port being 50 miles from the North Sea, summer 2026 marks the 200th anniversary of the ‘company’ town built to service the new docks. Events are being planned to commemorate the milestone, including a “flotilla” of waterways’ vessels converging on the docks in July 2026, while new investments are set to give the town a multi-million-pound boost, too. Leading the way is the transformation of the Victorian Market Hall into a vibrant food hall, live music and events venue, with the hope that it will become a central part of Goole’s ‘cultural quarter’. While work was delayed, the transformation is now well underway and is expected to open in early 2026.
Now here’s a quirky idea for a new holiday cottage stay
Dating back to the 16th century, and one of the city’s most photographed buildings, Lincoln’s ‘Wonky House’ is set to welcome guests as new holiday accommodation. The timber-framed property – one of the oldest council houses in England – had fallen into a state of disrepair, but work by City of Lincoln Council, in partnership with Heritage Lincolnshire, has now been completed to breathe new life into the building, which is famed for its distinctive lean, earning its ‘Crooked’ or ‘Wonky’ House nickname. Tucked away on a cobbled side street at the top of the city’s aptly named Steep Hill, with Lincoln Cathedral as the dramatic backdrop, the Grade II listed terraced property, at 40-42 Michaelgate, stands alongside a late 18th century house and shop. Sleeping two people, and dog friendly, bookings for the historic new holiday accommodation, are expected to open soon for 2026 stays.
Monet, Moomins and more
Visitors to Hull in 2026 will be able to view a Monet masterpiece and celebrate an iconic children’s tale, as well as discover 20 women who changed the world. Hull Museums and Ferens Art Gallery have revealed a packed line-up, including The Wonders of Moominvalley at the Art Gallery in May, when families can step into the world of Moomin, created by the Finnish illustrator and writer Tove Jansson. The same venue will also display Claude Monet’s masterpiece, The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil, painted in 1872, in June as part of the National Gallery Masterpiece Tour. Over at the Museums Quarter, the year begins with an exhibition exploring 20 Historical Women who changed the world, spanning from the 1500s to the present day.
Going for gold on the Viking Way…
The Viking Way, which runs 149 miles from the Humber Bridge to Rutland, marks its 50th anniversary in 2026, and over the last two years the Lincolnshire stretch has seen a host of improvements as part of a major investment. Crossing through the Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the historic city of Lincoln, the route is famously marked with signs bearing a Viking helmet on a yellow disc.
… and bridging the gap around the Lincolnshire coast
Set to open in summer 2026, a new pedestrian bridge at Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve will bring a visitor boost to the now completed King Charles III England Coast Path through Lincolnshire. A new 50-mile route opened in 2025 connecting the last stretch of coastline from Mablethorpe to the Humber Bridge, but with two small diversions, one at Gibraltar Point – where the bridge will create a year-round dry route – and the other at Immingham, where additional works are also still needed.
England’s oldest friary building to re-open to visitors
Greyfriars in Lincoln will be opening its doors in Spring 2026 since being closed to the public since 2004. Greyfriars was a Franciscan friary dating back to the early 13th century and is believed to be the oldest friary building in England. It is currently under restoration with funding through the National Lottery Heritage Fund and will reopen as a visitor attraction and event space.
The ‘Rat Pack’ to return?
Hull and East Yorkshire’s trail of 50 giant rat artworks inspired by music legend Mick Ronson was a huge success in 2025 and raised £160,000 at a charity auction. Now several colourful characters from A Mischief of Rats are due to go back on public display this year, which fittingly marks the 80th anniversary of the Hull musician’s birth. Famous as guitarist with David Bowie’s ‘Spiders from Mars’, he first joined Hull band ‘The Rats’.
World Cup rugby heads for Hull
Hull has beaten off interest from Qatar and Australia to host a rugby league world cup Clash of the Champions this year. Hull KR are set to take on Australian NRL Premiers, Brisbane Broncos, in the 2026 World Club Challenge at the city’s MKM Stadium on 19 February for the title of the world’s best rugby league club side.
Making the Lincolnshire coast more accessible for all
Easter 2026 will see the provision of four all-terrain mobility scooters plus nine beach wheelchairs to organisations along the Lincolnshire stretch of the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP). Access For All funding has been secured by Lincolnshire County Council to provide these vehicles free of charge at locations from Sutton Bridge to Mablethorpe including RSPB Frampton Marsh; the North Sea Observatory at Chapel Point; the new National Trust Sandilands Nature Reserve and the Colonnade at Sutton on Sea amongst others. Users will be able to hire these vehicles free of charge to enable them to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Coast Path.