What's on this weekend? 25-26 September

 Here's a quick rundown of what's on this weekend in Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and the surrounding area, selected to be suitable for the Days Out With Daddy audience - families with young children.

Middleport Pottery Artisan and Food Market
Friday 24 September - Saturday 25 September, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm both days
Free entry
If your children are interested in artisan food (yeah, it's a bit of stretch, but they may be), then Middleport pottery may be the place for you.  Try out new and interesting foods (it'll be a change from pizza, chicken nuggets and chips, which is all mine will eat...).

Alternatively, the foody theme continues with the Newcastle Under Lyme Fresh n Tasty Foodstival.
Saturday 25th September 2021
11:00 am - 6:00pm
Brampton Park, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 0QP

This is a similar but less 'artisan' food festival, with a refreshing array of hot and cold (alcoholic and soft) drinks to appeal to everyone’s taste buds.   There'll be a wide selection of food and drinks stalls, with an exciting opportunity to try an array of tasty dishes and desserts, to cover everybody's taste preferences and appetites.  

These are always good if your kids are nibblers and you're looking to try to expand their narrow range of foods (without having to break the bank buying food that then gets buried in the freezer for months).

COST:
Under 5 – FREE
5 – 15 years - £1.50
16+ £2.50

Potters 'Arf Marathon
Sunday 26 September

Yes, the Potters 'Arf marathon is back, starting out from central Hanley at 10:30 am, and going on a large anticlockwise loop around the city.  The route includes Shelton, Fenton, Longton, Bentilee, Abbey Hulton, Milton and Baddeley Green before returning to Hanley via Sneyd Green.

Come along, cheer the runners on, and maybe get some photos?

Expect traffic disruption around the route for most of the morning.

Spitfire Flypast, Stoke-on-Trent, Saturday 18 September

Cancel your plans for the weekend!

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery have announced that there will be a Spitfire flypast by the RAF on Saturday 18 September at 12.38pm,  celebrating the opening of their new Spitfire Gallery, which opens to the public on Monday 20 September - I'm sure it'll be visible from outside, even if you can't go in!

Please be aware that timings could change at short notice and the flypast is weather dependent. 

Find somewhere with a good view (Tesco car park, or any of the adjacent car parks near the museum) to get the best of the flypast.  In previous years, flypasts have involved a couple of bends and turns, so keep your eyes open!

Paint A Wooden Spitfire, Mitchell Arts Centre, September 2021

Stoke-on-Trent is celebrating Spitfire Weekend on 18-19 September, and there are various activities taking place.

The first I found is Paint A Spitfire, a children's activity taking place at the Mitchell Arts Centre, 40 Broad Street, ST1 4HG (behind the Tesco Extra in Hanley, which you can use for parking).  It's a free activity, running from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm, and is suitable for any child who'd like to paint a wooden model Spitfire.

No booking necessary; allow 30 minutes for your child to paint their model Spitfire.

Hanley Town Football Club: Free tickets for Low/No Income Families

 In a kind and generous gesture, Hanley Town Football Club have today launched a new scheme, offering free match-day tickets to children and dads (and mums) on low or no income. 

We have joint forces with @DaysOutWitDaddy to offer free entry to Dads and their kid where the dad has low or no income.

This will not only help with the quality of the family time but also the mental health of the parent.

We obviously extend this initiative to mums also.

— Hanley Town FC (@HanleyTown66) September 4, 2021

I'm delighted and honoured to be helping Hanley Town share and promote this new scheme. 

The first three games in the offer are shown below.  For more information, including how to show proof of eligibility, please contact the club via their website or their Twitter account.

Tuesday 5th October Vs Wolverhampton Casuals 7;45pm Saturday 9th October Vs Lichfield City 3pm Tuesday 12th October Vs Stone Old Alleynians 7;45pm

Alsager Car Boot Sale, September 2021

 Car boot sales are back!  The outdoor, wide-open-space format of car boot sales mean they were always going to be back on our calendars, and the first genuine car boot sale that I've found is at Alsager, on the weekend of 4-5 September.

Held by Alsager's Rotary Club, their car boot sale will be held instead of their normal charity market, which they have held a charity market outside the Alsager Civic for many years.  However, as the Covid-19 situation is still unclear, they've decided to switch to a car boot sale this year.  This will be Alsager Rotary's first fundraiser for over 18 months.

The car boot sale will take place on both Saturday and Sunday (4th and 5th September - 8am to 2pm) at Hall Farm, Crewe Road, Alsager, ST7 2UB. 

Betley Motor Festival, September 2021

Betley Motor Festival is coming up on Saturday 11 September, and it looks like being a great event.  Firstly - it's local.  Everything I promote or review on this blog is meant to be local to Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-Under-Lyme (although sometimes I go further afield).

Secondly, Betley Motor Festival is a combination of a car show, with other family-friendly activities such as a funfair, trade stalls, food, birds of prey etc.  The range of activities means that this will be a complete family fun-day and car show all rolled into one, with something for everyone in the family.  There'll be inflatables (play area), a funfair, and plenty of opportunity to catch up with family and friends - especially the petrol-heads.

For more details and contact information, there's the Stallfinder page for this event, and the CarCalendar page which has even more details.  The events team are also running a Facebook page which is being updated with attractions all the time.

It's £3 for adults, and under-16s are free, and there's free parking.

Betley Court Farm Holiday Cottages, CW3 9BH
Saturday 11 September
10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Macc Pow! Comic Convention, September 2021

 Not your typical comic convention (with stalls, merchandise, cosplay and so on), and more about comic art, MACC-POW! is Macclesfield’s day of comic-art, specifically celebrating comic artists, cartoonists and creators globally. It's based in Macclesfield's historic Town Hall building, and this year is a day of free drawing workshops.

It's smaller than it was pre-COVID, but will still be a good day, with opportunities to learn to draw comics like the professionals: Tor Freeman (The Phoenix); Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead) and Marc Jackson.  Although these are scaled down from previous events, this is still recommended if you have any interest in drawing comics and cartoons.  

Macclesfield might be on the northern edge of 'Stoke on Trent and surrounding area' but it's well worth a visit.  The town itself has a good range of shops, which are all reappearing after COVID and would appreciate some local support.

Saturday 4 September, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm.  Spaces are very limited to 12 per session, so book early, and only book if you are certain you can attend.

Find them on Facebook, or email: yowsa@markmakescomics.co.uk

Weston Park Model Airshow, September 2021

 As we return to normality, large-scale events are starting up (postponed, maybe, but going ahead nonetheless).  Football matches have crowds, and airshows have restarted!

The Weston Park Model Airshow is (despite the title) a large-scale event, which will include some full-size aircraft.  The Red Arrows aren't listed as going, but there should be a good range of other aircraft attending, along with model aircraft.  Model aircraft are amazing to watch, and if you haven't seen them before, I can strongly recommend seeing them.  They sound like the 'real thing', and have incredible manoeuvrability and agility in the air.  Providing the wind isn't too strong, they will be able to fly some amazing sequences which closely rival their full-size brothers.  Model jets in particular sound authentic - just like the full size versions - and the show may well include two model Red Arrows flying in formation (a sight to behold).

Weston Park has huge grounds, which will be filled with entertainment for the full family, including stalls, sideshows and a funfair (in accordance with Covid restrictions) and in the evening, the model flying continues and there's also a firework show.

The show runs from 3-5 September, including the evenings, and there's more information on the Weston Park website and the airshow website.

Weston Park is on the edge of Telford/Newport, and is not far from RAF Cosford (which I can also very highly recommend!).