Ticket sales open for Slapstick 2025’s 20th birthday and Valentine’s Day gala

Stars of stage, screen and the music charts will be on the bill when Bristol’s Slapstick festival of silent and classic screen comedy weaves 20^th birthday celebrations into its next annual gala, at Bristol Beacon on Valentine’s Day (Friday 14 February) 2025.

The opening today (Thursday 12 September) of bookings for the traditional centrepiece of the laughter fest was coupled with the announcement that gala highlights will include keyboard legend Rick Wakeman CBE playing live to a Laurel & Hardy short and a return appearance by The Matinee Idles – the acapella band featuring TV and film star Paul McGann and members of the doo-wap chart toppers, DARTS which also took part in Slapstick’s first Gala in 2005.

Festival director Chris Daniels says: “Slapstick’s Silent Comedy Gala is always a highlight of the festival and 2025’s will be extra special – taking place in our 20^th birthday year and on Valentine’s Day.”

In honour of the date, we’ll be showing three silent comedies which are all bona fide gems: Laurel & Hardy’s final silent short Angora Love  (1929}; Charlie Chaplin’s increasingly relevant The Immigrant (1917) and, as the main feature, Buster Keaton in Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) – all beautifully restored, all showing on a giant screen; each accompanied live by world class musicians, including the European Silent Screen Virtuosi, Bristol Ensemble members and the unsurpassable Rick Wakeman and all three certain to spark laughter. And if that isn’t enough, we’ll also have a flashback to our very first Gala in 2005, courtesy of the Matinee Idles. So all in all a very lovely Valentine’s Day treat.”

Gala tickets are on sale now, via the Bristol Beacon box office - Trenchard Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR; 0117 203 4040;  https://bristolbeacon.org/ -  priced from £15 to £39.95 (including booking fees) and with 10% discounts available for bookings made before 10 October.

The Gala will be joined by many other screen comedy events when the next Slapstick Festival takes place from 12 to 16 February 2025. The rest of the programme is due to be announced in mid October.

To stay up-to-date with Slapstick news sign up for free e-bulletins via www.slapstick.org.uk or find/follow the festival’s Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) social media accounts.

Slapstick is a not-for-profit organisation and survives with subsidy from the festival’s principal funders BFI (www.bfi.org.uk) awarding funds from the National Lottery and local animation legends Aardman Animations (www.aardman.com)