Wednesday 5 December is Panto Day—a chance to celebrate all things panto whether you're a Principal Boy, a Dame or a Fairy Godmother—or you want to be!
Amongst the features of the day will be the release of an advice page for would be panto performers with top tips from those already in the industry to help everyone find their happy panto ending.
This year, it seems, there is something special to be happy about: in defiance of the country's economic woes, Panto Day research reveals traditional pantomime is as popular as always with many theatres reporting this season as the "best ever".
Redhill’s Harlequin Theatre has Cinderella outselling last year's Sleeping Beauty by around 10%, ticket sales at Greenwich Theatre are up 18% for the same time last year and an estimated 90,000 people will see the panto at Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre.
No wonder so many theatres and performers will be joining the fun on 5 December.
Peter Pan flies into Towngate Theatre in Basildon on Panto Day itself and to mark the occasion there will be live tweeting (@TowngateTheatre), prize givaways and free Panto Day colouring activities, whilst Belgrade Theatre, who are presenting Sleeping Beauty this year, are running a "Nominate a man for a Nanny Knot"—they will be live blogging about this and lots more on the day.
The folk at the Palace Theatre Mansfield won’t have time to whistle while they work because they will be busy tweeting every five minutes throughout their Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Other live tweeters include Craig Daniel Adams (Peter Pan at Watersmeet, Rickmansworth), Tweedy the Clown (appearing in Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham's Dick Whittington) and Jane Deane (in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at The Capitol, Horsham).
Make a note in your diary so you don't miss out on the panto fun on 5 December. In the meantime there's Panto Day news on Twitter @Panto_Day or follow British Theatre Guide's very own panto guru Simon Sladen @simonsladen or Panto Day's Dame, Dame Hettie @HettieHashtag.
The official web site is at www.celebratepanto.co.uk