016: What's On Stoke & Staffordshire

ABBA tribute hits Victoria Hall, Oktoberfest at Alton Towers and Trentham, the miner's strike remembered with a new production and gearing up for Hallowe'en…

Today, The Knot is brought to you by MARA. Mindful running with clubs in Lichfield, Stone and Stoke.

WHAT’S ON/THINGS TO DO ✅

HIGHLIGHTED ⬇️ (FULL EVENTS LISTINGS BELOW)

• ABBA Tribute Set to Serenade Stoke. 26/10, Victoria Hall. Knowing me, knowing you, a-ha! ABBA tribute show Thank You For The Music has been running for 21 years and continues to play sold-out shows night after night. Don your sparkliest outfit and platforms and sing along to hits including Waterloo, Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia. The show is produced by Entertainers, which is run by father and son team Michael and James Taylor. It has another show, The Magic of Motown, at the Victoria Hall on 26/09. Tickets from £25.

Party like it’s 1977 with ABBA tribute Thank You for the Music

• Cheers! Celebrate Oktoberfest. Various dates and locations Alton Towers has transformed its front lawns into a Bavarian-themed hangout complete with oompah band for its take on Oktoberfest (until 29/09). Once you’ve had your fill of the rides, swing by before you hit the monorail for Bier Planken, bratwurst and pretzels: there’s covered seating in case it rains. One-day online pass from £29. Trentham Gardens is also hosting an Oktoberfest event on 20-21/09; tickets from £20. You can sample German bier and food at The Factory Floor at The Quarter at Potbank on 28/09, too. Tickets £10, doors open 7.30pm.

  

  Enjoy a beer with a side-order of oompah at Alton Towers’ Oktoberfest

A sponsored post by MARA

• An afternoon with Jack Scott. 21/09, One of the most exciting ultra runners in the world shares his experiences running the most challenging endurance events in the world in his hometown of Stone. There’s a Q&A, lunch and trail snacks included, plus a chance to run with Jack on one of his home routes.
  
  Jack is an ultra runner from Staffordshire. This year, he announced himself on the world stage winning the 2024 Winter Spine Race. The Spine Race is a 268 mile (431km) non-stop race along the Pennine Way. Jack smashed the course record by over 10 hours in a time of 72 hours and 55 minutes. Go Jack!

• Pit Closure Drama Plays Out On Stage. 08/10, 7.30pm, Fenton Town Hall. It’s been 40 years since miners from Hem Heath and Florence Colliery went out on strike to protest against Thatcher’s pit closures. This act of defiance is being celebrated by Leeds-based theatre company Red Ladder with its show ‘We’re Not Going Back’, which was produced in collaboration with UNITE union and North Staffs Trades Council. Described as celebrating the ‘power of sticking two fingers up’ at a government ‘hell-bent’ on destroying working class communities, the production follows three sisters who set up a branch of Women Against Pit Closures during the miner’s strike of 1984/85. Tickets from £11.55.

A new production remembers the miner’s strike 40 years on…

• It’s Nearly Hallowe’en. Various dates and locations. It’s time to locate off your witches’ hat and broomstick as Stoke gears up for the scariest time of the year. Big events include Gandey’s Hallowe’en Spooktacular at Trentham (16/10-03/11), Scarefest at Alton Towers (11/10-03/11) and Hallowe’en at the SnowDome, (25/10-03/11), which has Spooks & Slide ice skating, and the Treats & Chills snow fun park. Pick your pumpkin at the largest patch in Staffordshire, Lower Drayton Farm, and while you’re there, check out Spooktacular Hallowe’en (04/10-03/11) at Drayton Manor Resort.

It’s time to pick a pumpkin and your Hallowe’en costume soon…

EVENTS LISTINGS

• Potteries Centre Events Series, ongoing, Potteries Centre

• Throw a Pot Sessions, ongoing, LoveClay

• Guided Walks in the Peak District, Various, Multiple (Peak District)

• Titanic Brewery Tour, Multiple Dates, Titanic Brewery

• Spitfire Comedy Open Mic, Multiple Dates, Old Post Office, Burslem

• Electric Tentacle Electronic Music Open Mic, Multiple Dates, Captain’s Bar

• Oktoberfest, until 29/09, Alton Towers

• Pots & Prosecco, until 26/10, World of Wedgwood

• Peppa Pig’s Fun Day Out, 18-19/09, Regent Theatre

• Stoke Exchange Forum, 19/09, World of Wedgwood

• An Afternoon With Jack Scott, 21/09, Aston-by-Stone

• Barrioke, 21/09, Sugarmill

• Ocktoberfest Stoke, 20-21/09, Trentham Gardens

• Devotion Summer Boogie, 21/09, Backyard Stoke

• Comedy & live music with Benidorm's Pablo Bloom, 22/09, Jollees

• An Inspector Calls, 25-28/09, Regent Theatre

• Katherine Ryan, 28/09, Victoria Hall

• Oktoberfest, 28/09, Quarter at the Potbank

• Bright Lights Over Bentilee, 27/09-12/10, Claybody Theatre

• Middleport Artisan Autumn Market, 28-29/09, Middleport Pottery

• Beatrix Potter & Friends, 28/09, Potteries Museum & Art Gallery

• Oktoberfest, 28/09, Factory Floor, the Quarter at Potbank

• Potters ‘Arf, 29/09

• Open Weekend Stockton Book Waterworks, 27-28/09

• Edward Scissorhands, 29/09-03/10, Mitchell Arts Centre

• Banjos and Bottom Knockers, 03/10-05-10, Middleport Pottery

• Spooktacular Hallowe’en, 04/10-03/11, Drayton Manor Resort

• Stoke-on-Trent Symphony Orchestra, 05/10, Kings Hall

• Cranford, 08-12/10, Stoke Repertory Theatre

• We’re Not Going Back, 08/10, Fenton Town Hall

• Scarefest, 11/10-03/11, Alton Towers

• Gandeys Hallowe’en Spooktacular, 11/10-03/11, The Trentham Estate

• Autumn Clay Handbuilding Workshop, 13/10, LoveClay

• Hannah Aldridge, 13/10, Fulford Village Hall

• Last Supper at FEASTED, 19/10, Spode Works

• It’s a Beautiful Noise, 19/10, Victoria Hall

• Clay Club, 21/10-03/11, World of Wedgwood

• Hallowe’en at the SnowDome, 25/10-03/11, SnowDome

• Thank You For The Music, 26/10, Victoria Hall

• Blossoms, 28/10, Victoria Hall

• OOOOAARGH! Pirates, 31/10, Gladstone Pottery Museum

• Middleport Ceramic, Craft & Art Festival, 02/11, Middleport Pottery