WPBS-TV Presents Special Programming Celebrating Easter in March 2024

WATERTOWN, NY (March 18, 2024) – Easter is widely considered the most important Christian holiday, and the one celebrated with the greatest joy.  The holiday falls on March 31 this year, and WPBS is pleased to present special programming heralding the rebirth and renewal associated with this holiday and with the spring season.

Friday, March 22

Mary Berry’s Easter Feasts – part 1 (2:00 pm)

Mary discovers the traditions followed by diverse British families and communities during Lent and Good Friday and the food that brings them together as each prepare for the great Easter celebration.

Sunday, March 24

Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine – part 1 “Birth of a Faith” (12 noon)

The series begins in Bethlehem and travels throughout the Holy Land. With the Gospels as a guide, host Jonathan Phillips traces the life of Jesus from his birth, ministry, passion, and resurrection. 

Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine – part 2 “The Great Missionary” (1:00 pm)

Meet the man whose transformation is one of the most compelling in history, the Apostle Paul. Journey with Jonathan Phillips as he re-traces Paul’s bold quest to bring the Christian message to Asia and Europe. 

Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine – part 3 “Age of the Apostles” (2:00 pm)

Travel with Jonathan Phillips on Paul’s third and final missionary journey as the Apostolic Age comes to an end. In Rome, Paul and the Apostle Peter will both meet their fate at the hands of one of the cruelest tyrants in history.

Tuesday, March 26

WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories (7:30 pm)

Meet women working in the field of science and breaking barriers. Learn how much Easter candy is made to prepare for the holiday. Join us in the kitchen with North Country DJ Johnny Spezzano to make fire-grilled sloppy joes.

Friday, March 29

Mary Berry’s Easter Feasts – part 2 (2:00 pm)

In the second part of this gastronomic adventure discovering how Britain eats its way through Easter, Mary explores the wonderful foods that bring each different community together on Easter Sunday, the most symbolic and meaningful feast in the Christian calendar.

Easter in Art – part 1 & 2 (9:00 pm)

The story of Christ’s death and resurrection has dominated Western culture for the past 2000 years. It is perhaps the most significant historical event of all time, as recounted by the gospels but equally, as depicted by the greatest artists in history. 

Saturday, March 30

Lawrence Welk: Easter (6:00 pm)

Tom Netherton celebrates Easter and Spring with this very special show from 1978 that combines classic popular songs and traditional hymns.

Sunday, March 31

Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine – part 4 “From Apocalypse to Heresies” (12 noon)

The city of Jerusalem is rocked by war. Host Jonathan Phillips travels to Patmos Island where John was exiled and visits the cave where John wrote the most enigmatic book of the New Testament, Revelation.

Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine – part 5 “Pagans and the Cult of Martyrs” (1:00 pm)

Phillips visits places where Christians faced unimaginable violence because of their beliefs, where the Roman Empire threatened everything that Christians stood for with their pagan temples, emperor cult and vicious tortures.

Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine – part 6 “Constantine” (2:00 pm)

In the final episode, host Jonathan Phillips explains how Rome exerted its fullest effort to eradicate Christianity. The faith grew stronger as the empires and emperors weakened. It would be the conversion of one man – Constantine the Great – that would fully transform the fortunes of the Christian faith.

Rick Steves European Easter (3:00 pm)

Taking you on a spring journey through Spain, Slovenia, Italy, and Greece, Rick Steves’ European Easter celebrates this 2,000-year-old story in a variety of cultures.

Music & the Spoken Word: Easter (6:30 pm)

About WPBS

WPBS is a PBS station serving approximately 650,000 households throughout Northern New York and Eastern Ontario via cable, satellite, Internet and over-the-air distribution. WPBS is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate, inform, and engage its two-nation region with exceptional and trusted content across multiple platforms. Its vision is to be the premier provider of extraordinary public media that instills wonder and curiosity across generations and borders. More information about WPBS, including a full channel listing, is available at wpbstv.org, or by following WPBS on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.