Manchester Arena Announces Reopening, Benefit Concert

The Manchester Arena will reopen next month just three-and-a-half months after a bomb attack in the venue's foyer killed 22 people at the conclusion of an Ariana Grande concert. To mark the reopening, a benefit concert is scheduled for Sept. 9 at the arena with Noel Gallagher headlining. He'll be joined by The Courteeners, Blossoms and Rick Astley, along with others yet to be named.

The reopening follows the One Love Manchester benefit concert, which was held June 4 on a cricket pitch southwest of Manchester less than two weeks after the initial attack on the arena. Grande emceed and headlined that event, and was joined by Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Liam Gallagher and many others. The benefit raised $3 million and drew the largest television viewership of the year at the time.

The announcement of the Manchester Arena reopening follows a notice from the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund yesterday that it's distributions to the families of those killed had increased to £250,000 (about $321,000), with no strings attached. The Fund now plans on looking at how best to distribute the remaining money, with some earmarked towards the dozens wounded, as well as the establishment of a memorial for the victims.

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