The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is preparing to welcome visitors back this spring as a new display is set to showcase objects chosen by museum staff.

From Saturday 28 March 2026, visitors will once again be able see the city’s iconic Spitfire as well as visit the Forum Theatre and Violet’s Café. Managed entry will be in place while improvement works continue elsewhere in the building.

Alongside the reopening, a new display - Our Favourite Things - will open in the café space. The exhibition brings together items handpicked by the museum team, giving visitors the chance to see some of the museum’s nationally significant collections while the redevelopment is ongoing.

The reopening of the theatre will also see the return of popular events, including the museum’s Cult Film Club. The club returns from Friday 27 March with the film Stand by Me.

A new programme of short films and documentary screenings is also being developed in collaboration with Ray Johnson of Staffordshire Film Archive.

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for finance, anti-poverty and corporate services at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “With the Spitfire Gallery, theatre and café reopening, it means residents and visitors can once again enjoy some of the museum’s most loved spaces while we continue investing in its long-term future.

“The new display gives visitors the chance to see the objects that mean the most to our team and that help tell the story of Stoke-on-Trent.”

The museum’s £5 million redevelopment is being delivered by Seddon following funding secured from Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through the Cultural Development Fund.

Details on the reopening of the Stoke-on-Trent City Archives Reading Room, located on the ground floor of the museum, will be announced in due course. For urgent statutory legal or other time-sensitive requirements, where no digital or remote service is suitable, limited onsite access is available.

For more information go to stokemuseums.org.uk/pmag.