020: What's On Stoke & Staffordshire
Events galore including Sam Ryder, a Nobel Laureate at Keele, Maurice Wade art show, free kids craft club at Spode plus Sinitta stars in Chicago at the Regent Theatre…
WHAT’S ON/THINGS TO DO ✅
HIGHLIGHTED ⬇️ (FULL EVENTS LISTINGS BELOW)
🎸 Space Man Sam Ryder Plays Stoke. 13/12, Victoria Hall. The Eurovision superstar with a penchant for Sonic the Hedgehog trousers will be rockin’ the Viccy Hall this December, with a little help from support acts Billy Lockett and Kerr Mercer. Not familiar? Check out his big hit Space Man. Tickets from £39.61.
🎸 Yowzer! It’s the Zutons. 28/11, 7pm, Keele Uni. If Sam Ryder is a little mainstream for you, then Scouse indie rockers The Zutons will be swinging by Keele next month to perform hits including ‘Valerie’, famously covered by Mark Ronson with Amy Winehouse providing stellar lead vocals. Tickets £30 (£25 for Keele students).
🖼️ North Staffs Landscapes on Show. Until 16/01/25, Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. Famous for his stark, atmospheric paintings of Etruria Hall, Burslem, Longport, the local canal network and more, Maurice Wade – A Painter from No. 57, will bring together more than 90 works from Wade’s private collections for the first time. Tickets £6 (£4 concessions), under 16’s go free.
💎 Kids’ Craft Club at Spode. 19/10, 11am-1pm & 1.30pm-3.30pm Spode Museum. Children can explore different colours and textures as they make clay pinch pots decorated from repurposed gems, jewels and beads at the Spode Museum Craft Club. Activity suitable for kids aged 7+. Book now. Admission free.
👩🏽🎤 Sinitta for Chicago 25/11-30-11, Regent Theatre. Pop star Sinitta ruled the 80s with hits like Toy Boy and So Macho. Now she’s on stage as Mama Morton in smash hit musical Chicago. She’ll be joined by soap star Faye Brookes (Roxie Hart) and Strictly Come Dancing’s Kevin Clifton (Billy Flynn). Tickets from £15.

📕 Nobel Laureate Visits Keele. 11/12, 6pm, Keele Uni. As part of Keele's 75th anniversary celebrations this year, novelist, academic and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021 Abdulrazak Gurnah will give a public reading from his work, followed by a book signing. Admission free - but you’ll need to sign up here.
😈 A Fangtastic Show. Frankenstein, 25/10, 7.30pm, Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. Get in the spooky spirit just prior to Hallowe’en with Mary Shelley's perennial Gothic horror, actor and writer Jonathan Goodwin plays a host of characters, including Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation. Tickets £15. Bar opens at 6.30pm.
🧟 Another Spooktacular Evening. The Evil Dead, 31/10, 7pm, University of Staffordshire. Catch 1980s horror classic The Evil Dead at Don’t be Afraid, It’s Only Business: 40 Years of the Video Recordings Act, with the film shown after a video nasties exhibition and spooky cartoons (5-6pm). There’s also a talk by Dr Mark McKenna, associate professor of film and media industries (6-7pm) about the rise of the video nasty in the early 1980s. Free admission for aged 18’s and over.
EVENTS LISTINGS
Potteries Centre Events Series, ongoing, Potteries Centre
Throw a Pot Sessions, ongoing, LoveClay
Maurice Wade – A Painter from No. 57, until 16/01/25, Potteries
Museum & Art GalleryGuided 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
Spooktacular Hallowe’en, 04/10-03/11, Drayton Manor Resort
Scarefest, 11/10-03/11, Alton Towers
Gandeys Hallowe’en Spooktacular, 11/10-03/11, Trentham Estate
Last Supper at FEASTED, 19/10, Spode Works
It’s a Beautiful Noise, 19/10, Victoria Hall
Spode Museum Craft Club, 19/10, Spode Works
Clay Club, 21/10-03/11, World of Wedgwood
Frankenstein screening, 25/10, Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Hallowe’en at the SnowDome, 25/10-03/11, SnowDome
Thank You For The Music, 26/10, Victoria Hall
Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay 26/10, Stoke Minster
Candlelight: A Tribute to Adele, 26/10, Stoke Minster
Blossoms, 28/10, Victoria Hall
Wolf Witch Giant Fairy - The Royal Ballet, 29/10, Mitchell Arts Centre
OOOOAARGH! Pirates, 31/10, Gladstone Pottery Museum
Ghostronomy Ghost Tour, 31/10-02/11, The Villas, Stoke
Don’t be Afraid, it’s Only Business: 40 Years of the Video Recordings Act, 31/10, University of Staffordshire
Middleport Ceramic, Craft & Art Festival, 02/11, Middleport Pottery
The Feast Food Festival, 02/11, Market Square
Fireworks Extravaganza, 03/11, Staffordshire County Showground
The Ultimate Fireworks Spectacular, 05/11-08/11, Alton Towers
Christmas Light Switch On, 14/11, Trentham Shopping Village
Jimmy Carr: Laughs Funny, 20/11, Regent Theatre
From Gold to Rio, 20/11, Mitchell Arts Centre
Chicago, 25/11-30/11, Regent Theatre
A Christmas Carol, 27/11, Middleport Pottery
The Zutons, 28/11, Keele University
Santa Sleepover, 29/11-24/11, Alton Towers
Candelight: Tribute to Queen, 30/11, Stoke Minster
Candlelight: Hans Zimmer’s Best Works, 30/11, Stoke Minster
Luminate, 29/11-31/12, Shugborough Estate
Absurd Person Singular, 10/12-14/12, Stoke Repertory Theatre
Abdulrzak Gurnah reading and book signing, 11/12, Keele University
Sam Ryder, 13/12, Victoria Hall
Bat out of Hell, 30/06-05/07, Regent Theatre