Voice of Greece welcomes the festive season with carols from across Greece and around the world, holiday greetings from Greek seafarers on the open seas, the Brisbane-based Greek choir Ellinikes Fones, beloved Christmas fairy tales, and distinguished guests—offering a rich holiday program shared with Greeks everywhere.
Program Highlights
From Monday, 22 December, through Thursday, 01 January, “Greek Music Express” – Voice of Greece’s English-language program dedicated to Greek music, presented by Hercules Economou – sets out on a festive musical journey. The program features Christmas and New Year’s Eve songs, ballads and carols, art songs and pop, joyful and melancholic melodies alike: songs about ornaments and festive lights, Saint Nicholas, and The Little Match Girl. All commentary focuses on the condition of children around the world—the inequalities, discrimination, and conflicts they face today. (Weekdays at 14:00 Greece time; exceptionally on Thursday, 01 January, at 15:00.)
Throughout the holiday period, the music program “Irregular Notes” with Stelios Ioannidis presents rare recordings from the ERT Archive, beloved Christmas melodies, and traditional carols, highlighting the musical memory of the season. (22–24 December at 20:00; 25 December at 18:00; 26 December at 17:00; and 01 February 2026 at 17:00.)
On 23 December, at 22:00 Athens time, on the eve of Christmas Eve, the program “Human Landscapes” with Victoria Kavouriari welcomes to the Voice of Greece studio Alexis Kostalas – the man who, from June 1965 to this day, has taught generations what classical music, classical dance, and figure skating truly mean. A master of language and expression, he reminds us that it is not only what we say that matters, but how and why we say it, in order to share what we love. His life journey unfolds from the Petralona neighborhood of his childhood at the outbreak of war, to the United States in the late 1950s; from backstage at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in conversation with Nureyev after a performance with Maria Callas, to the first broadcast of figure skating by ERT in 1979, and to his plans for the year ahead.
On Wednesday, 24 December, at 12:00 Athens time, the program “Faraway Words” with Natassa Vissarionos celebrates Christmas with the choir Ellinikes Fones from Brisbane, Australia. Guests in the Voice of Greece studio include conductor Christina Xydi-Lignou and musicologist and music producer Georgios Lignos, who speak about the choir and their lives in Australia, while recordings of traditional carols performed by Greek Voices are broadcast.
Later that same day, 24 December, at 22:00 Athens time, Professor Georgios Filias, Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Theology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, is a guest on the program “Remarkable Pesonalities” with Stavroula Karali. In an evening dedicated to the central event of Christianity—the Nativity of Christ—Professor Filias explores the true meaning of Christmas, illuminating the timeless message of love, hope, humility, and peace brought into the world by the Divine Birth, while placing it within its historical, political, and social context.
On Christmas Day, 25 December 2025, at 10:00 Athenstime, “Fair Winds and Following Seas” with Antonis Karagiannakis offers a special radio journey across Greece, exploring the customs and carols of the Twelve Days of Christmas. The program’s guest, Konstantina Tassopoulou, author of How to Sing the Carols, explains how to go caroling with friends and loved ones—what to wear, which instruments to bring, and how carols are sung in villages, islands, and cities across Crete, Kasos, the Peloponnese, Athens, Kefalonia, Chios, Kastoria, Xanthi, and Cyprus.
On Christmas night, at 20:00 Athens time, the festive episode of “Ariadni’s Thread” with Ariadni-Sofia Kouri features live carols from across Greece, performed by a special all-female ensemble: Erriza (Konstantina Asvesta) and Effie Keramyda on oud, Nadia Mandellou on laouto, Effie Pasiou on violin, Effie Roumelioti on santouri, with guest vocalist Christina Chrysaki—along with the stories behind the melodies.
On Saturday, 27 December, at 12:00 Athens time, “Our Town” with Themis Rodamitis hosts composer, musician, and author Nikos Xanthoulis, who speaks about the long journey of the ancient lyre and the revival of this lost musical tradition, performing live on the instrument.
Immediately afterward, at 13:00 Athens time, “Historical Walks” with Marilena Katsimi explores the true meaning of Christmas through historical, theological, and cultural reflection on the Nativity of Christ, love, freedom, sacrifice, and peace. The guest is His Eminence the Metropolitan of Peristeri, Gregorios Papathomas. The program also examines how Christmas is experienced around the world, the similarities and differences between Orthodox and Catholic traditions, and the musical expression of the Christmas experience.
On Sunday, 28 December, at 12:00 Athens time, the first part of “Our Town”’s tribute to the magical era of the boîtes airs under the title “When the Boîtes Were Celebrating.” Guests include artists who lived through that era—Kostas Chatzis, Giannis Glezos, Themis Andreadis, Michalis Violiaris, Memy Spiratos, Thanassis Gaifyllias, Popi Asteriadi, Xanthippi Karathanasi, among others—when every day felt like a celebration, both personal and collective. (The tribute continues on Sunday, 04 January 2026, at 12:00.)
On Monday, 29 December, at 22:00 Athens tim – and again on Monday, 05 January- “Our Town” journeys into the world of rebetiko—its music, gathering places, and working-class neighborhoods—guided by leading scholar Panagiotis Kounadis.
On New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, 31 December 2025, at 22:00 Athens time, psycho-pedagogue and professional storyteller Sasha Voulgari is a guest on “Remarkable Personalities” with Stavroula Karali. On this night of transition and anticipation, she guides listeners through a thread of stories, returning them to the realms of childhood where fairies, dragons, and mischievous spirits exist. She speaks about Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl, and shares one of her own favorite tales.
On New Year’s Day, at 08:00 Athens time, “Fair Winds and Following Seas” with Antonis Karagiannakis travels thousands of miles with Greek seafarers who describe the loneliness of the holidays aboard ships, far from home, as they sail the world’s seas. They share memories, greetings, and unforgettable Christmases at sea, in a festive program featuring maritime professionals of all ages.
Finally, on Saturday, 03 January 2026, at 12:00 Athens time, “Our Town” presents a special holiday episode titled “As If It Were the Dream of a Festive Day,” with songs and texts in a dreamlike, hopeful atmosphere. That same evening, at 22:00 Athens time, the final episode of “Historical Walks”’s Christmas tribute airs, focusing on Christmas as a feast of peace in a world marked by war, conflict, and deep division. With guest His Eminence the Metropolitan of Peristeri, Gregorios Papathomas, the program examines the role of the Church in the contemporary world, the significance of the recent meeting between Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Leo XIV, the historical path of relations between Orthodoxy and Catholicism from the Great Schism to the present, and the possibilities and limits of modern inter-Christian dialogue.
