Have you got a cracker for the crackers? | UKTV Gold launches its annual festive joke contest

Have you got a cracker for the crackers?

UKTV Gold launches its annual festive joke contest

The Gold TV channel today launches its competition to discover the best new Christmas cracker gags.

It is the fifth year that the UKTV broadcaster has run the contest. Their aim is to freshen up the jokes in the 300million crackers Britons pull every Christmas up to date, with punchlines based on the topical events of the year.

Last year’s winning one-liner was the pun: ‘How will Christmas dinner be different after Brexit? No Brussels.’ And 2015’s top spot was taken by: ’Why does Ed Miliband like advent calendars? He gets to open the door to number 10.’

The competition is open from now until 11.59pm on Sunday October 29, 2017. See below for full details how to enter.

The winner will receive £1,500 holiday vouchers, as well as having their joke included in a personalised set of crackers ready to pull on the big day.  

Nine runners-up will each receive a festive Christmas hamper, and a box of bespoke Gold Christmas crackers, which include the top six winning jokes.

The best jokes will be shortlisted by a panel led by Bruce Dessau, comedy critic for the Evening Standard, then put to an anonymous public vote. Dessau said: ‘2017 will go down as one of the most eventful periods in modern history - and while there are serious events going on, we can usually find something to smile about!. I'm looking forward to seeing what comic gems Gold's Christmas Crackers competition will come up with.’

Steve North, general manager of Gold, said: ‘2017 has certainly been a rollercoaster of a year, from politics to pop culture phenomena – we’re looking forward to seeing what topics the nation will choose as inspiration for their jokes.’

The winning jokes will be announced in December.  

HOW TO ENTER 

The competition is open to all UK residents aged 18 and over, to enter please:

  • Tweet a Christmas-themed joke via your personal Twitter account including the hashtag #GoldCrackers
  • Gold is looking for modern festive jokes that put a comedy twist on the news agenda or pop culture phenomenon across the past year
  • Must be original content and suitable for a family audience (e.g.  no swear words)
  • The joke entry must not be more than 140 characters, including the hashtag #GoldCrackers 
  • Multiple entries are allowed
  • All entrants must follow @GoldChannel (so we can notify the winners) - but the @GoldChannel Twitter handle does not need to be included in the joke entry

For further information on the terms and conditions, click here.

Published: 10 Oct 2017

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