Stoke-on-Trent Treasure Festival Opens Free

A small solid-gold object found near Ellastone is now set to become one of the first sights awaiting visitors when The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery reopens after its multi-million-pound transformation.

The Festival of Treasure is planned at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent from 1 March 2027, with free entry listed for the event, following another free cultural exhibition at Stoke Minster tied to the city’s Centenary celebrations. A start time, end date and full visitor programme have not yet been announced.

The festival will mark two linked moments for the city: the reopening of the museum next spring and the first public display of a rare 3,000-year-old Bronze Age gold dress fastener discovered in Staffordshire.

The Visit Details Confirmed So Far

The event is being organised by The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. The source material does not yet give booking instructions, a venue address for this event listing, transport guidance or accessibility arrangements.

A 3,000-Year-Old Find Saved For Staffordshire

The object at the centre of the Festival of Treasure is a solid gold Bronze Age artefact, believed to be a dress fastener. It was discovered by a metal detectorist near Ellastone in 2023 and later declared Treasure.

The museum has acquired the fastener after a £150,000 appeal succeeded in keeping it in the county. The funding came through public donations, support from the Friends of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, and grants from Art Fund, the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

According to Stoke-on-Trent City Council, it is the first object of its kind found in Britain in almost 30 years. Only seven others are recorded across England and Wales.

That rarity gives the public display more than cabinet-room appeal. The fastener will sit alongside the Staffordshire Hoard and the Leekfrith Torcs, placing another gold discovery from the region into a collection that stretches across thousands of years of local history.

What Visitors Can Expect Around The Reopening

The full Festival of Treasure programme has not been released, but the museum has confirmed the fastener’s first public display will be part of the reopening plans for spring 2027.

Before then, the museum team is due to deliver outreach events and activities supported by National Lottery players, helping people explore the dress fastener and Staffordshire’s Bronze Age past. Physical and digital replicas of the fastener will also be created for events linked to the Festival of Archaeology in July and Heritage Open Days in September.

Joe Perry, curator of local history at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, described the fastener as a worked solid-gold object that would not have been an everyday item. He said objects of this kind were visible displays of wealth and status, likely worn by someone at the highest levels of Bronze Age society.

He also said the find changes understanding of the region during the Bronze Age and called it the most significant Treasure item acquired by the museum for almost a decade.

Why This Display Adds A New Layer To The Museum

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is already known for holding nationally recognised archaeological material from Staffordshire. The new acquisition adds a Bronze Age object to that story, connecting the county’s prehistoric past with later gold discoveries already associated with the museum.

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for finance and anti-poverty at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said the discovery, alongside the Staffordshire Hoard and the Leekfrith Torcs, confirms Staffordshire as home to some of the country’s major gold treasures.

Peter Wilson, chair of the Friends of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, thanked those who supported the appeal and said the find had been saved for local people and visitors to see and enjoy.

For anyone planning ahead, the practical details remain simple but incomplete: Festival of Treasure, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, planned from 1 March 2027, free entry, with times and further programme details still to be confirmed.

Source: Stoke-on-Trent City Council