Gold launches its annual Christmas competition

Comedy channel Gold has announced the return of its Christmas cracker joke competition for its 12^th year. 

The writer of the best festive gag inspired by the events of the last 12 months wins  £1,500 in experience and travel vouchers among other gifts

Last year’s winning joke, crowned by public vote, referenced the controversy over the provenance of some British Museum artefacts. Chris Douch’s gag was: ’Did you hear about the Christmas cake on display in the British Museum? It was Stollen.’

In 2022, the winner was Claire Travers Smith with: ‘What type of peas ruin Christmas Dinner? MPs."

Organisers suggests events that might inspire joke-writers this year include the split of Tommy Fury and Molly Mae Hague, Oasis reuniting, the Paris Olympics or the pop culture movement of Brat Girl Summer.

The competition is open from today until 11.59pm on Monday October 21.  Entries must be made by tweeting original, witty and family-friendly Christmas jokes with the hashtag #GoldCrackers. All entrants must be following @GoldChannel on X, so that winners can be contacted.

As well as the vouchers, the winner will a festive-themed food and drink hamper, and their joke will be included in a personalised set of crackers.

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

HOW TO ENTER

Open to all UK residents aged 18 and over. To enter:

• Tweet an original Christmas-themed joke via your personal X account including #GoldCrackers and be following @GoldChannel
• Gold is looking for the most original festive jokes that put a comedy twist on the news agenda or pop culture moments across the past year
• Jokes must be original content and suitable for a family audience (eg no swear words or offensive content)
• The joke entry must be in short form content (not exceeding 140 characters), including #GoldCrackers
• Multiple entries are allowed
• All entrants must follow @GoldChannel on X so we can notify the winners - but the @GoldChannel handle does not need to be included in the joke entry
• Competition ends at 23:59 on October 21, 2024

Full terms and conditions are here.

The best jokes will be shortlisted by a panel led by comedy critic Bruce Dessau, who said: ‘Each year I look forward to seeing the latest festive funnies from the British public - the entries never fail to bring a smile to my face. The contest provides the opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months, and to find the humour in some of the many eventful cultural moments. I look forward to seeing what people come up with this year.’

Gerald Casey, Gold’s director of comedy and entertainment programming, added: ‘At Gold we love when this time of year comes around and we get to challenge the nation to come up with some cracking Christmas jokes – it really marks the start of the festive season for us. 

‘We’ve been running this competition for well over a decade, and each year the standard of jokes just gets better and better. Here’s to another year of giggle-worthy gags.’

Published: 7 Oct 2024