Alternative new year's shindig to celebrate nannas
BBCFeaturing songs, stories and a celebration of Stoke-on-Trent's grandmothers - or nannas - an alternative take on Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny is being aired on New Year's Eve this year.
It is being organised by the Claybody Theatre and will be filmed at The Production House in Tunstall.
Viewers watching the event via the theatre's website will get to see the Hootenanna's party room ringing in the new year alongside music from the Cor Bach Choir and Penkhull Brass Band.
The event will also feature short films made by community reporters on subjects such as the city's green spaces and Stoke-on-Trent's forthcoming centenary year.
The idea came about as a way to share stories and celebrate nannas from across Stoke-on-Trent, organisers said.
Deb McAndrew, artistic director at the Claybody Theatre, said: "It was just an idea we had really and we thought it was funny.
"But it's covering so much more than the women in the city who are amazing - everybody, from allotment gardeners to food outlets, carnival - it's a really broad, diverse celebration of the city."
Fellow artistic director Conrad Nelson added: "Hootenanny says a party, Hootenanna is about a slightly older generation."
He said it was a "great metaphor for the city" as grandmas were seen as a matriarch with "so much responsibility in all cultures".
Marie Bird from Trentham will host the evening and said she did not feel old enough to be a grandmother.
"I have to say it's been one of the best roles of my life so far, I absolutely adore my granddaughter," she said.
Ms Bird added she had never done any presenting before and was a bit "terrified" about it but the team at Claybody had helped put her at ease.
"It's incredible – the set's amazing, everybody's amazing and I'm loving it so far," she said.
"My daughters are just howling with laughter at it and I've never had so many Facebook messages off people."
Hootenanna will be streamed live via the Claybody Theatre website on New Year's Eve from 20:00 GMT.
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