Holiday Fun for the Whole Family on KLRU

It's that time of year when the days turn colder, loved ones gather and a perfect evening might just be snuggling up in front of the television with some hot cocoa. KLRU has your hoilday programming covered with family-friendly specials that help us all feel warm inside.

Hanukkah: A Festival of Delights Explore the evolution of Hanukkah from a small holiday within Judaism to its prominence in American culture. William Shatner, Lainie Kazan, authors, rabbis and others share historical background and personal memories.
__AIRS: __ December 2 at 2 p.m.

Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir featuring Sutton Foster and Hugh Bonneville Join Tony Award-winning actress Sutton Foster and Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville along with the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, Bells on Temple Square handbell choir, Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble and dancers and actors in an elaborate, Victorian-themed program that celebrates the Christmas season through music, dance, storytelling and pageantry.
__AIRS: __ December 17 at 8 p.m. and December 24 at 9 p.m.

Christmas At Concordia: Gather Us In, O Child Of Peace At Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, four festive choirs and a full orchestra, led by renowned artistic director and composer René Clausen, gather before a stunning mural richly illustrating the concert’s themes of peace, compassion and community.
__AIRS: __ December 17 at 9 p.m.

Lidia Celebrates America Celebrity chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich takes a culinary journey that will seat us at the table of families all across rural and urban America. From east to west, north to south, experience along with Lidia the diverse melting pot that is America. This series is a deeply personal journey that allows Lidia to share her culinary traditions, heritage and history with others who also have great stories to tell.
__AIRS: __ December 18 at 8 p.m.

Call the Midwife Holiday Special 2017 Join the midwives as they battle snow, ice, power cuts and frozen pipes to provide patient care during the coldest winter in 300 years. Valerie helps a young couple who experience a traumatic birth and Sister Julienne tries to reunite a family.
__AIRS: __ December 18 at 9 p.m. and December 24 at 10 p.m.

Great Performances: Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn – The Broadway Musical Enjoy the hit Broadway adaptation of the classic 1942 movie musical, showcasing an Irving Berlin score including the Oscar-winning "White Christmas" with big dance numbers, comedy and a hit parade of the great songwriter's famous tunes.
__AIRS: __ December 21 at 8 p.m.

Happy Holidays with the Boston Pops This one-hour music special showcases the best of the New England holiday season with the Boston Pops and Tanglewood Festival Chorus under the direction of Keith Lockhart, performing beloved classics including "Christmas Canticles" and "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. Filmed at historic Symphony Hall in Boston, the show features several special segments, including a performance by bass-baritone Justin Hopkins. Country superstar Sara Evans sings songs from her 2014 holiday album At Christmas and Mad Men and Broadway star Robert Morse reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with musical accompaniment. Of course, no Holiday Pops concert would be complete without the orchestra's signature rendition of Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride," a piece written expressly for the Boston Pops, and a visit from the one and only Santa Claus.
__AIRS: __ December 22 at 7 p.m.

Christmas at St. Olaf: Ris'n with Healing in His Wings 2018 A century-old tradition, the St. Olaf Christmas Festival continues as an expression of the College's rich musical heritage. This new program features a work arranged in a gospel musical style; a new commission which mixes traditional carols from Nigeria, the West Indies and Puerto Rico with more familiar European carols, as well as traditional spirituals, contemplative and introspective musical gems and familiar hymns and carols.
__AIRS: __ December 24 at 8 p.m.

Call the Midwife Holiday Special 2018 See what happens when a new nun and four Chinese orphans arrive unexpectedly at Nonnatus House, causing both joy and chaos for the midwives. Meanwhile, Mother Superior falls ill and it's time for a new spiritual leader to be elected.
__AIRS: __ December 25 at 8 p.m.

American St. Nick World War II exacted a heavy toll on the people of Wiltz, Luxembourg, nearly destroying the small town. Occupied by German forces for four years, the town was subject to the whims of Nazi leadership: streets were renamed, the native language was banned, religious freedoms were curtailed and Saint Nicolas Day was outlawed. This documentary chronicles a day at the height of the war when the battle-weary 28th Infantry Division of the American Army returned hope and joy to the children and people of this war-torn town.
__AIRS: __ December 25 at 9:30 p.m.

Frank Capra Story: A Wonderful Life This documentary film is short-form broadcast journalism that examines the life of the filmmaker Frank Capra and features sound from Capra, as well as Jimmy Stewart, Bette Davis, Donna Reed and Bob Hope. The film features 570 stills from the 1930s and 1940s, which were researched through the National Archives, Sony Pictures Museum, Library of Congress and others. Most of these images have never been on TV previously but are public domain.
__AIRS: __ December 25 at 10:30 p.m.

European Christmas Markets Discover Europe's Christmas Markets, where the town center, market square or just the narrow, cobblestone streets of the cities and towns of Europe come alive in winter with festively decorated wooden stalls offering all sorts of treats and delights. As we travel through Germany, France and Switzerland, we visit cities and towns and learn of their history, see their major sights and visit their charming markets.
__AIRS: __ December 25 at 11 p.m.

Great Performances: Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood Celebrate Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday with this tribute concert at Tanglewood. Featuring the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the concert is hosted by Audra McDonald and includes guest artists Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Thomas Hampson and more.
__AIRS: __ December 28 at 8 p.m. and December 30 at 1 p.m.

ACL Hall of Fame New Year’s Eve 2018 Celebrate the induction of new Austin City Limits Hall of Famers Ray Charles, Los Lobos and Marcia Ball, with performances by Boz Scaggs, Gary Clark Jr., Norah Jones and more. Hosted by Chris Isaak.
__AIRS: __ December 29 at 7 p.m. and December 31 at 9:30 p.m.

PBS KIDS Holiday Specials on KLRU

*Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas* Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat have a great time preparing for Christmas.
__AIRS: __ December 10 at 7 a.m. & 1 p.m., December 12 at 6:30 a.m., December 14 at 7 a.m. & 1 p.m., December 19 at 7:30 a.m., December 22 at 7:30 a.m. and December 24 & 25 at 7 a.m. & 1 p.m.

*Let’s Go Luna!: Luna’s Christmas Around The World* Luna explores how Christmas is celebrated around the world.
__AIRS: __ December 10 at 8 a.m. & 2 p.m., December 12 at 7:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m., December 14 at 8 a.m. & 2 p.m., December 16 at 8 a.m., December 20 at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., December 22 at 8:30 a.m. and December 24 & 25 at 8 a.m. & 2 p.m.

*The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas* This adventure finds the Cat in the Hat, Nick and Sally on a journey around the world to help a lost reindeer find his way home to Freezeyourknees Snowland in time for Christmas. On the way, the Thingamajigger breaks down and they depend on a variety of animals——from African bush elephants to bottlenose dolphins to red crabs——and their remarkable abilities to help them make an amazing journey home.
__AIRS: __ December 10 at 9 a.m., December 13 at 11 a.m., December 14 at 9 a.m., December 17 at 11 a.m. and December 24 & 25 at 9 a.m.

Peg + Cat + Holidays This is a special holiday episode of Peg + Cat featuring The Christmas Problem, The Hanukkah Problem and The Penguin Problem. This series is designed to engage preschool children and teach them how to solve math-based problems with Peg, a chatty and tenacious five year-old, her feline pal, Cat and her smart, handsome, cool friend Ramone.
__AIRS: __ December 10, December 14, December 24 & December 25 at 10 a.m.

*Arthur’s Perfect Christmas* Plans are underway in Elwood City for the best holidays ever as Arthur, D.W., their family and friends make preparations for perfect gifts, perfect parties and perfect family traditions for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and even "Baxter Day" (Buster and his mom's special celebration). The only problem is, just like in real life, perfection is hard to attain, and things start to fall apart.
__AIRS: __ December 10 at 3 p.m., December 11 at 4:30 p.m., December 14 at 3 p.m., December 21 at 4 p.m. and December 24 & 25 at 3 p.m.

*Wild Kratts: A Creature Christmas* In this one-hour special, it's Christmas time and the Wild Kratts are taking a break from creature adventuring to celebrate. But when the Wild Kratts receive an alert that their favorite creatures are suddenly disappearing around the globe, their holiday party quickly turns into a rescue mission. Our heroes must race against time to thwart their greedy archraivals' most miserly scheme yet! Will they be able to travel to the ends of the earth and return their baby animal friends to their homes in time for the holidays?
__AIRS: __ December 10 at 4 p.m., December 12 at 2:30 p.m., December 14 at 4 p.m., December 18 at 6:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. and December 24 & 25 at 4 p.m.