Holiday Programming 2025
We've got a full lineup of holiday programming to get you in a festive mood.
Listen on-air or stream online on our website, on our free mobile app, or on your smart speaker.
Holiday programming is sponsored by Maui Fruit Jewels.
Listen on demand to the Mele and Moʻolelo Hana Hou with Derrick Malama (Originally broadcast on Nov. 28 on HPR-1)
Wednesday, December 31
HPR-1
10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Jon Alan New Year's Show
HPR-2
3 p.m. Classical Pacific — New Year's Eve LIVE with Sharene Taba
Join Sharene Taba for Classical Pacific — New Year’s Eve LIVE, a festive evening of classical selections to close out the year.
Thursday, January 1
HPR-1
11 a.m. Climate One's This Year in Climate: 2025
2025 has been a doozy in so many ways. And climate news has been no exception. Climate One hosts Ariana Brocious and Kousha Navidar look back at what the year has meant for climate progress: the good, the bad, the ugly — and the joyful. According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2025 will go down as one of the top three warmest years in the 176-year observational record. Climate-change-fueled extreme weather continues to wreak havoc on communities across the world. And yet, it’s not all bad news. As Bill McKibben points out, we now live on a planet where the cheapest form of energy basically comes from pointing a piece of glass at the sun. And globally, renewable energy surpassed coal for the first time ever. Despite the federal government’s attacks on climate science and policy, local climate action is still happening across the country and globe, and each of us holds power to make change.
Guests: Adrienne Heinz, Clinical Research Psychologist, Stanford University School of Medicine Roxanne Brown, Vice President at Large, United Steelworkers Pattie Gonia, Drag Queen and environmentalist.
HPR-2
8 a.m. Classical 24
10 a.m. New Years Day from Vienna
The 2026 Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert takes place January 1, 2026, for the first time under the baton of Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna.
3 p.m. Classical Pacific New Year's Day Ozoni Show with Sharene Taba
Celebrate New Year’s Day with Sharene Taba on a special Japanese-style episode of Classical Pacific. Each year, Sharene invites listeners into her family’s Oshōgatsu traditions — from her mom’s shared recipe to stories and reports from Japan — offering a joyful, culturally rich complement to the classic Viennese New Year.
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Call (808) 955-8821 during business hours or donate online.
Schedule is subject to change. This page will be updated throughout the holiday season.
Past programming from this year's holiday season:
Thursday, November 27 - Thanksgiving Day
HPR-1
9 a.m. No Small Endeavor’s Holiday Special 2025: Gratitude and Conversation
When the headlines numb and the culture wars grind us down, what if hope isn’t a mood at all—but a practice you can do with your body, your friends, and your city?? This holiday, the public radio program No Small Endeavor revisits four conversations to find practices of hope: meditation teacher Tara Brach on healing the “trance of unworthiness,” songwriter Tom Paxton on the folk community that fueled social change, marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson on climate imagination, and educator Sharon McMahon on everyday civic action. Together they offer three grounded practices—for self, for community, and for the common good—that help us act toward a more beautiful future.
10 a.m. The Splendid Table’s Turkey Confidential
Turkey Confidential is The Splendid Table’s annual Thanksgiving show. Francis Lam takes calls and comes to the rescue of Thanksgiving cooks, kitchen helpers, and dinner guests during the biggest cooking day of the year. This year’s guests include Samin Nosrat (author of, “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat”), Yossy Arefi (Author of “Snacking Bakes”), Vivian Howard (chef and host of PBS’ Kitchen Curious), and Evan Kleiman (host of KCRV’s Good Food).
You can be part of the show, too! Record your Thanksgiving question on your voice memo app and submit it here or call 800-537-5252 to leave a message.
10 p.m. Bridging the Gap with Jeff Long
For this holiday episode of Bridging the Gap, Jeff Long brings together a thoughtful collection of music centered on gratitude, featuring artists from across genres and generations.
HPR-2
9 a.m. Shadowglow - Thanksgiving with The American Sound
This Thanksgiving, enjoy an hour of music celebrating the special radiance of autumn and the richness of the holiday—music inspired by the uncanny fire of starlight, the hopeful warmth of luminaria, the lamps of gratitude we light within ourselves, even the golden glow of beloved Thanksgiving treats fresh from the oven. Produced by WOSU Public Media.
10 a.m. Every Good Thing
This Thanksgiving, host Andrea Blain and classical music fans from all around the country take time to give thanks and celebrate one of life's most meaningful gifts: music. It's Every Good Thing — an hour of stories and music to celebrate Thanksgiving.
11 a.m. Songs of Thanks
Join us for "Songs of Thanks," an innovative new production by Cantus, presented exclusively by Minnesota Public Radio. Through their signature narrative programming, the acclaimed octet will weave together stories and songs celebrating gratitude and community. Don't miss this special broadcast, designed to uplift the human spirit and honor the season.
3 p.m. Classical Pacific — LIVE with Sharene Taba
Join Sharene Taba for a special Thanksgiving "Classical Pacific — LIVE" featuring an uplifting blend of classical works to welcome the holiday with warmth and gratitude.
6 p.m. Evening Concert Thanksgiving Special with Craig DeSilva
Craig deSilva brings a special holiday "Evening Concert," featuring a thoughtful selection of classical works that celebrate the spirit of the season.
Friday, November 28
HPR-1
11 a.m. Mele and Moʻolelo Hana Hou with Derrick Malama
Featuring Derrick Malamaʻs past "Kanikapila Sunday" interviews with Kuana Torres Kahele, Raiatea Helm, and Amy Hanaialii. Kuana Torres Kahele shares why he stepped away from Na Palapalai to record his first solo album. Raiatea Helm shares her experience recording her music in a classic style. And Amy Hanaialii gets us in a festive mood with several holiday songs sung in Hawaiian. LISTEN ON DEMAND
Saturday, December 20
HPR-1
6 p.m. John Zak's Evening Concert Christmas Celebration
Sunday, December 21
HPR-2
12 p.m. Sunday Baroque Christmas Program 2025
Explore the holiday season with Sunday Baroque, a weekly radio program featuring beloved and appealing music composed in the Baroque era (1600-1750) and the years leading up to it. Explore festive highlights with Suzanne Bona, who offers a huge variety of beloved and appealing music performed by the world’s finest musicians on a wide variety of instruments.
Wednesday, December 24
HPR-2
12 p.m. A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols presents your audience with an opportunity to share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal Classical music. This special will be presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the 500-year-old Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England.
3 p.m. Classical Pacific — Christmas Eve LIVE with Sharene Taba
Sharene Taba presents "Classical Pacific — Christmas Eve LIVE" featuring a beautiful program of classical holiday favorites.
6 p.m. John Zak's Evening Concert Christmas Celebration
8 p.m. St. Olaf Christmas Festival
A service in song and word that has become one of the nation’s most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
Thursday, December 25
HPR-1
11 a.m. Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
Christmas is a time of traditions, and over the years, NPR has created a few traditions of its own. In this hour-long special: Wistfulness, joy, doubt, hope, all the emotions we feel at this time of year, all summoned up in memorable stories from the NPR broadcast archives.
HPR-2
8 a.m. A Chanticleer Christmas
Grammy award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer is known as the “orchestra of voices” for its unparalleled range and abilities. This holiday season, the group brings its brand-new Christmas program including original arrangements of well-known tunes drawn from Classical, Jazz, and Popular traditions. They fluently weave between diverse musical styles to create an evening of wonder and joy
9 a.m. Welcome Christmas
Welcome Christmas is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world's premier choral ensembles, conducted by Philip Brunelle and G. Phillip Shoultz. Join host Bonnie North for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries.
10 a.m. The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice 2025
Christmas Revels performances have been described as entertaining collections of country, ritual and courtly dances, wassails, carols, songs and ballads, spirituals, hymns and anthems, storytelling, poetry and drama. Tune in for a musical celebration of the winter holidays with this compilation of musical excerpts, plus a few short poetry and prose readings, selected from live Christmas and Midwinter Revels stage productions presented in five cities across the United States.
3 p.m. Classical Pacific — LIVE with Sharene Taba
Celebrate Christmas Day with Sharene Taba on a special Classical Pacific — LIVE, featuring a bright, joyful selection of classical works to accompany your holiday afternoon.
Friday, December 26
HPR-1
11 a.m. Selected Shorts: What You Wish For
Host Meg Wolitzer presents three Christmas stories in different moods—satirical, fantastical, and nostalgic:
“A Visit from Saint Nicholas (In the Ernest Hemingway Manner),” by James Thurber, performed by James Naughton
“O’Brien’s First Christmas,” by Jeanette Winterson, performed by Jayne Atkinson
“One Christmas,” by Truman Capote, performed by John Shea
HPR-2
6 p.m. Evening Concert - LIVE with Marcus Moore
Marcus gathers holiday pieces from diverse cultures to reveal how communities worldwide honor this time of year. These songs offer a window into shared hopes, rituals, and the universal spirit of coming together.
Sunday, December 28
HPR-1
2 p.m. Kanikapila Sunday
On Sunday, December 28, Jeff Peterson, a true paniolo son, joins Kealiʻiloma for Kanikapila Sunday. For the entire program, they will share his manaʻo about paniolo culture through walaau (talk story), kī hoʻalu (slack key) performances by Jeff, and recordings by many of the greats of Hawaiian music.