A pottery museum in Stoke-on-Trent is set for its first-ever dance music event - 237 years after the site first opened as a factory. 

DJ and Producer Jordan Tilstone (pictured), from Stoke-on-Trent, says the event at the Gladstone Pottery Museum on 26 July will be the first major rave in the city since the end of dance music events at the Spode China Hall in 2019. 

Jordan, who runs Claywork, has operated and played at events in other cities in the UK but this is the first professional event he has hosted in his home city. 

The Gladstone Pottery Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary since opening this year, and Jordan hopes the event will provide funding to support the Grade-II listed venue, as well as contribute to the revitalisation of the dance music scene in the city. 

He told Stoke Nub News: "The idea behind Gladstone came partly from me realising there was no venue in Stoke with a proper professional set up or an appealing interior, whether that be architecturally or the sound system. 

"I've always loved the idea of having an event in my home city of Stoke. I'm so passionate about the place. 

"But I always thought it would take a millionaire coming in, renovating a place and booking world-famous headliners because the scene is that dead it would take that kind of financial input to get it back off the ground. 

"I got some quotes for some rooftop bars in Liverpool and they were quite highly priced and I jokingly said to my girlfriend, 'I bet I could hire somewhere as amazing as Gladstone for that kind of money'. 

Claywork has already hosted events in Liverpool but this is the first in Stoke-on-Trent. (Supplied)

"So I went to see if they would be interested and I didn't think that they would accept a dance music event on their site, but they did.

"We have our capacity capped as that was one of the demands that Gladstone put on us to make sure the site is protected but it will still be big enough so there will be a great atmosphere there."

The event itself will comprise of trance, techno and hard house and will run for five hours from 4:30pm in the shadow of the historic bottle kilns at the museum.

The deal between the museum and Claywork took weeks to finalise and was announced on social media on Thursday. The early release tickets have already sold out and the general release is now live.

Jordan added: "The museum didn't have the money to properly celebrate the 50th anniversary and it's become apparent to me that they don't have a lot of resources and have made redundancies. 

"We have paid quite a substantial venue hire fee to make this happen and it feels nice to know that this money will help keep the place going and maintain it. 

"This event is helping support a cultural institution in our city while providing entertainment for the people of that city - entertainment people haven't had in a very long time because the scene hasn't existed, it died around ten years ago."

Gladstone Pottery Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. (Nub News)

In his own music Jordan often refers to his love for the city and the pottery industry with tracks such as "Porcelain Voices" and "Terracotta XTC".

He hopes the event at the Gladstone Pottery Museum will provide entertainment for younger people in Stoke-on-Trent who he feels are underserved by the current offering.  

Jordan added: "There are two or three promoters in Stoke currently, not including myself, and I get along with them very well but really the events cater towards an older crowd - not my generation now. 

"By major event, I mean something that has this level of detail and professionalism, so hopefully Claywork can follow it up and people enjoy it with us having more and more. 

"And I would love Claywork to be the main provider of trance music events, or any dance music events in Stoke." 

Find out more about the event here.

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READ: 'It's horrific': Moorcroft workers speak out after closure of historic factory

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