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It’s Christmas today. As you ease into the holiday, WTTW News has compiled some seasonal stories to help you celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa fully. |
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Call the Midwife Holiday Special. (BBC Studios Distribution Limited) |
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The holidays are here, and WTTW is here to help get you in the festive spirit with a lineup of holiday programming. Cozy up by a fire and grab a plate of cookies to enjoy holiday cooking specials, musical performances, Christmas markets around the world and much, much more. Watch performances from ensembles around the globe and specials that examine traditional and contemporary customs of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Call the Midwife Holiday Special 2025
Thursday, Dec. 25 at 7 p.m. on WTTW
When senior members of the Nonnatus House staff head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission, the younger midwives are left to cope alone. As the Christmas action shifts between the sun-drenched Far East and a snowy East End, Sister Julienne suddenly finds herself excited about the Order's future. After years of battling change, she decides to embrace it, work with it, and see what love can do.
Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa
Saturday, Dec. 27 at 7 a.m. on WTTW
Honoring the heritage, unity, culture and rich contributions of African Americans, Kwanzaa is more than just a celebration; it's a way of life. "Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa" is an hour-long 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.
Karamu: Feast for the 7th Day
Saturday, Dec. 27 at 8 a.m. on WTTW
Hosted by lifestyle expert Sira Williams, "Karamu: Feast for the 7th Day" explores the tradition of Kwanzaa, focusing on the final feast that concludes the annual celebration. The half-hour program explores the history, principles and symbols of Kwanzaa while celebrating the culinary traditions of West Africa. Featuring dishes from Mali, Ghana and Nigeria, this program focuses on food and culture, and their integral relationship to building community. Williams also shares her personal story as a child born in Mali, West Africa, to her American mother and Malian father, giving viewers insight into her experience growing up and the importance of African roots in American culture. |
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Sponsor Message |
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This 66-foot Norway spruce will stand tall in Millennium Park as Chicago’s official 2025 Christmas tree. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
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When it comes to choosing Chicago’s official Christmas tree, the stakes are high.
“This tradition has gone on for 112 years, so no pressure to find a great tree, right?” joked Neal Heitz, director of event production for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
The top criteria are: A. Is it tall? and B. Is it beautiful?
This year, Heitz is confident the team picked a beaut that checks all the right boxes: a 6-ton Norway spruce donated by the Mason family from suburban Glenview. City officials said the tree was 68 feet tall; the team cutting it down said the tree came in at 66 feet on the truck.
“As soon as we saw this tree, we knew,” said Heitz. “This tree is slightly larger than most applicant trees that we have gotten in the last few years, so this was a real gem to be found here in Glenview.”
The tree was set up in Millennium Park on Nov. 21 and will be on display through Jan. 11.
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O&H Danish Bakery's Tipsy Elf kringle is one of several special varieties offered at the holidays, when you can also find O&H's pastries in grocery stores around the country. (O&H Danish Bakery) |
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Chances are that at some point in your life, you’ve encountered a kringle: a delicate oval of buttery, laminated dough wrapped around nuts, fruits and sometimes cheese, all finished with a ribbon of white icing. At the very least, you probably know its smaller cousin, the danish. Whereas in America the latter pastry is named for its Scandinavian origins, in Scandinavia itself the term for it and other laminated pastries such as the kringle reflects an earlier root: wienerbrød translates to “Viennese bread.” Amid all this geographic hopping, throw in one more step to Racine in southeast Wisconsin, a city not far from Chicago and the Illinois border that has become the unofficial center of the North American kringle-verse.
It was in Racine — the most Danish city outside Denmark a century ago — where bakers adopted the oval shape that now defines the North American kringle, unwinding the loops of the classic pretzel shape in order to allow softer fruit fillings to be evenly distributed, according to Peter Oleson, the fourth generation Oleson to run O&H Danish Bakery.
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(WTTW News) |
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Got a good snow pun? Enter it in Chicago’s fourth annual “name a snowplow” contest.
Extra points if you can combine it with a reference to a homegrown celebrity or a bit of Chicago trivia. Think Mrs. O’Leary’s Plow, Salter Payton or Snower Wacker — all past winners.
Submissions are due at Chicagoshovels.org by Jan. 10. There’s a limit of one entry per person; length is capped at 50 characters.
Staff in the Department of Streets and Sanitation will narrow entries down to 25 finalists, which will be revealed Feb. 1. The public will then vote for their favorites and the top six will be the winners. Why six? That’s the number of city snow districts.
Here are some names chosen in previous years.
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Mrs. O’Leary’s Plow
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Da Plow
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Salter Payton
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Casimir Plowaski
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Mies van der Snow
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Bozo the Plown
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Lollaplowlooza
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What's your favorite thing about the holidays in Chicago? |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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