The 19th annual Music Box Steps Day will be held at Laurel & Hardy Park, 900 Vendome Street in Silver Lake from noon to 3 PM this Saturday, October 12. A fun and educational film festival for the whole family, the event is free and is organized by the Silver Lake Improvement Association (SLIA) with support from the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council (SLNC), the 13th City Council District, and local businesses and residents. 

Music Box Steps Day is named for and celebrated at the famed film site of Laurel & Hardy’s 1932 Oscar-winning short film "The Music Box." Its aim, first and foremost, is to commemorate the 133 stairs upon which the classic comedy team attempted, with hilarious results, to deliver a player piano to a hilltop house.

In addition to multiple screenings of the 29-minute film (and other L&H classics) in a tent set up in Laurel & Hardy Park across from the Steps, the festival features Laurel & Hardy look-alikes, pizza and pastry, a magic show, educational presentations and displays, and fabulous raffle prizes donated by local artists, restaurants and other businesses. 

“'The Music Box' is a cinematic treasure and we are proud to keep its memory alive,” says Vincent Brook, SLIA board member, media studies professor, and creator of the festival in 1995. “We are thrilled that this classic film, which remains as funny as ever, was shot in the heart of Silver Lake. Music Box Steps Day is our way of honoring the comic genius of Laurel & Hardy and reminding local children, their families and others of this historical jewel in their midst.”

The Steps are featured in tourist books, and film buffs from around the world have flocked to see (and set foot on) them over the years. Music Box Steps Day, besides drawing assorted cinefiles and, of course, members of the Sons of the Desert (the international L & H fan club), has attracted visitors from as far away as England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany—some coming all the way just for this event!

For more information, call 323-663-7641.