‘Tis the season for holiday cheer, and what better way to spread the joy than with PBS North Passport? This holiday season, PBS North Passport is bringing you a sleigh full of festive programming, from classic holiday specials to new and original content.
Hanukkah (1973)
A half-hour documentary on The Jewish Festival of Lights: Hanukkah. Ed Asner tells the origin of the holiday, its riveting history, and its modern-day customs.
Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas
This documentary tells the story of a group of Jewish songwriters – including Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, Gloria Shayne Baker and Johnny Marks – who wrote the soundtrack to the world’s most musical holiday.
Call the Midwife Holiday Specials
Catch up with four Holiday Specials from Call the Midwife as we count down the days until the Dec. 25 premiere of the newest Holiday Special!
Happy Holidays with Bing & Frank
Celebrate the holidays with this timeless favorite featuring the magical combination of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby in an early color television special from 1957. The two legends swap Christmas carols, songs, and stories, pay a musical visit to Victorian England, and duet on Christmas classics. Directed by Sinatra, with music conducted by Nelson Riddle.
Straight No Chaser: The 25th Anniversary (Holiday Edition)
A cappella group Straight No Chaser, formed 25 years ago at Indiana University, has sold more than three million albums, more than 1.5 million concert tickets, and garnered over a billion streams. They returned to Indiana to tape this concert at the Murat Theatre, performing classics, contemporary songs, and holiday favorites like “Jingle Bells,” “Indiana Christmas” and “Nutcracker.”
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Ghosts of Christmas Eve
Celebrate Christmas with Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s allegorical rock opera, featuring Ossie Davis, Jewel, and Michael Crawford in a story of a runaway girl who turns her life around on a snowy Christmas Eve. From TSO producer/writer/guitarist Paul O’Neill, along with long-time collaborators Jon Oliva and Bob Kinkel.
O Holy Night: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir
Stars Megan Hilty and Neal McDonough join The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square to celebrate the holidays with a return to the Emerald Isle. McDonough and Hilty, who each share Irish heritage and traditions, deliver a deeply personal program that weaves together well-known holiday tunes, classic Christmas carols and hymns with some traditional Irish musical numbers.
The Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Family Christmas Show
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, along with their families, join together for a memorable Christmas celebration filmed in 1967.
Christmas in New Orleans
While the celebrations of Christmas are universal, local traditions helped set an already unique city apart. Canal Street and Mr. Bingle, the decorated Centanni Home, bonfires along the Mississippi River levees, and a semi-tropical city under a rare blanket of snow – all part of Christmas in New Orleans.
European Christmas
Join Rick as he celebrates the holiday’s rich history while exploring the sights and sounds of celebrations in Bath, Paris, Oslo, and Burgundy, as well as the timeless traditions of Nürnberg, Salzburg, and Tuscany.
Holidays for Blooms
In this special edition of Life in Bloom, J shows you ways to enjoy flowers for the Christmas holidays. J gives us a tour of his holiday decorations- shows us how to decorate a mini boxwood tree, and create a triple-berry centerpiece complete with floating cranberries. Learn to wrap presents the “J-way”, and a bouquet made with a few of J’s favorite things.
Detroit Remember When – Holidays at Hudsons
Return to Detroit holidays gone by, in a televised tribute to the famous Hudson’s Department store, and their lasting holiday legacy. For many children of the 20th century, the holiday season was synonymous with Hudson’s. Their elegant yearly displays, parades, and devotion to making festivities special for the children of Michigan established Detroit as one of the holiday capitals of America.
Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas
Mary Berry shares her ultimate Christmas feast with all the trimmings. Friends and Chefs Angela Hartnett and Monica Galetti join her to share favorite festive recipes from their heritage and Mary and TV host Rylan try and convert some kids to Brussels sprouts.
Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa
Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa is a one-hour documentary that explores the seven principles that are the foundation of Kwanzaa by sharing seven real-life stories of impact. These stories reveal how each principle plays a role in the Black community, enhanced by cultural elements of dance, storytelling, music, and spoken word.