NEXT season's Magic Weekend will be opened by St Helens against Widnes Vikings.

Following the success of the Dacia Magic Weekend in Newcastle over the last three years, Super League (Europe) is taking the event back to St James’ Park, Newcastle on Saturday May 19 and Sunday May 20.

Magic Weekend has been held in Newcastle every year since 2015 and has drawn in the three highest attendances for the weekend since the event began in 2007.

Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos will face each other in a rematch of the 2017 Betfred Super League Grand Final in the closing game on Saturday evening.

The Tigers, who were defeated 6-24 by the Rhinos at Old Trafford earlier this month, will come head to head with Leeds in Newcastle for the second consecutive year at 7.30pm on Saturday, May 19.

Following the exciting 24-all draw between Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves at St James’ Park in 2016, the two sides will face each once again on Saturday afternoon at 5.15pm following the opening fixture of the weekend between Widnes Vikings and St Helens which kicks off the round of Betfred Super League fixtures at 3.00pm.

Salford Red Devils and Catalans Dragons will kick off the second day of the annual Rugby League extravaganza when they go head-to-head for the first time in the event’s history at 1.00pm.

Wakefield Trinity then take on Huddersfield Giants at 3.15pm, before Hull KR make their highly anticipated return to Dacia Magic Weekend against derby rivals Hull FC, bringing the curtain down on an action-packed weekend at 5.30pm.

Announcing the decision to return to St James’ Park, Super League General Manager, Mark Foster, said: “We had a number of other cities bid to host what is a fantastic event but Newcastle is a great venue for us – the city has made us feel incredibly welcome over the last three years and we know our fans love to come to Newcastle for the weekend.”

Tickets for the 2018 Dacia Magic Weekend at St James’ Park, Newcastle, will be on sale from 10.00am today.

Day tickets are priced from £25 for adults and £12.50 for concessions. Weekend tickets are also available from £40 for adults and £20 for concessions.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting rugby-league.com/tickets or by calling the Rugby League Ticket Hotline on 0844 856 1113 (calls cost 7p plus your network connection).

The 2018 Magic Weekend schedule is as follows:  

Saturday May 19

Widnes Vikings v St Helens (15.00)

Wigan Warriors v Warrington Wolves (17.15)

Castleford Tigers v Leeds Rhinos (19.30) 

Sunday May 20

Salford Red Devils v Catalans Dragons (13.00)

Wakefield Trinity v Huddersfield Giants (15.15)

Hull KR v Hull FC (17.30)