English National Opera and Walk the Plank will present Perfect Pitch at We Invented the Weekend, staging an unmissable outdoor performance just one week ahead of the World Cup 2026.

A 400-strong community choir of football fans and singers from across Greater Manchester will join forces with English National Opera (ENO) on Saturday 6 June 2026 at Salford’s We Invented the Weekend festival, for a special one-off outdoor performance celebrating the unexpected connection between football and opera.

The finale event – which marks the culmination of Perfect Pitch, a large-scale community project co-created by ENO and Salford-based outdoor arts specialists Walk the Plank which began in January 2025 – brings together local community choirs, football supporters and ENO artists, for a mass performance inspired by the World Cup, days before the 2026 tournament begins.

‘Nessun Dorma’, the iconic Puccini aria famously associated with the 1990 World Cup, is at the heart of the performance, sung by international tenor Luis Gomes and the Chorus of ENO. Other well-known operatic pieces are sung by our 400-strong Perfect Pitch choir, ENO soprano Alison Langer and ENO baritone and Harewood Artist Dan D’Souza.

The Chorus of ENO will make their entrance via Salford’s waterfront, aboard the Princess Katherine, setting the stage for a playful operatic penalty shoot-out. The event will feature Greater Manchester-based women’s football teams, special guest appearances and a prize-giving ceremony complete with a giant golden trophy, confetti and visual effects.