BBC UNVEILS EASTER AND OTHER FAITH PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS, NEW AND RETURNING TITLES

The BBC is marking Easter and other key faith festivals this spring with a broad range of content across TV, iPlayer, radio and BBC Sounds.

There are three special episodes of Songs of Praise – the Rev Kate Bottley presents an episode on Women of the Easter Story, Aled Jones brings audiences a rich variety of hymns for Easter Sunday from St George’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Southwark and there is a celebration of gospel music introduced by Mark De-Lisser; and BBC One will show Urbi et Orbi on Easter Sunday Morning, live from Rome.

Other programming for the Faith and Hope season includes a brand new series of Pilgrimage which sees a new group of well-known faces with differing faiths and beliefs walk through the Austrian and Swiss Alps; two episodes of Celebration Kitchen celebrate Passover and Wesak Day; Amol Rajan visits the Ganges to explore the biggest gathering on Earth – the Maha Kumbh Mela Festival in Northern India; and Eid Live and Celebrity Eid mark the end of Ramadan from Bradford UK City of Culture 2025.

There is a new series of Not Even Water, presented by comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri, to mark Ramadan on BBC Asian Network and special Ramadan, Eid and Vaisakhi playlists on BBC Sounds.

To celebrate one of the most important festivals in the Jewish calendar, Passover is the focus of this Celebration Kitchen. Also known as Pesach in Hebrew, Passover can last for seven or eight days depending on where in the world it is celebrated. It’s a spring festival, commemorating the story of Exodus. In this special episode, Matt Tebbutt will be joined by a group of fantastic guests who will guide us through the traditions and key meals that make up the festival of Passover.

275 years after a ground-breaking charity concert saw George Frideric Handel perform his Messiah for the benefit of London’s foundlings, Gareth Malone is set to stage his own performance of the nation’s favourite choral piece in the magnificent surroundings of Cardiff’s Llandaff Cathedral as a fundraiser for BBC Children in Need.

With Easter approaching, the annual Pilgrimage series is returning to BBC Two and iPlayer next month, as seven well known personalities, of differing faiths and beliefs, tackle a challenging pilgrimage through the majestic and awe-inspiring Austrian and Swiss Alps.

Across 3 x 60 minute episodes, the brand new, Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps, will follow celebrity pilgrims, as they take a personal journey along a revived medieval Catholic route, travelling from just outside Innsbruck on the Austrian Camino and finishing near Lake Zurich in Switzerland.

Amol Rajan Goes to the Ganges (working title) is a one-hour documentary special for BBC One and iPlayer exploring the biggest gathering on Earth – the Maha Kumbh Mela Festival in Northern India. Journalist and presenter Amol Rajan joins up to 500 million pilgrims from all over the globe who come together for the world’s largest religious festival.

The festival, which takes place every 12 years, is the largest in human history, and this year's Kumbh is a once in a lifetime event, due to a special alignment of the planets in the solar system, which last occurred 144 years ago. Pilgrims numbering more than the combined populations of the US and UK gather in an area the size of Manhattan, at the confluence of three sacred rivers, to purify themselves in the waters and gain salvation for themselves and their families.

In celebration of Eid al-Fitr 2025, BBC Factual announces two special programmes for spring this year: Eid Live and Celebrity Eid, both coming from Bradford UK City of Culture 2025, for BBC One and iPlayer, marking this special moment in the Islamic calendar at the end of the month of Ramadan.

The first of these two new programmes will be broadcast live on BBC One and iPlayer, presented by the BBC's Jason Mohammad alongside Imam Qari Asim MBE, who will be offering unique insights into the sermon, prayers, ritual and celebrations. The episode will come from Bradford Central Mosque on the morning of Eid and will be the first time this service of worship has been televised live on a UK terrestrial channel.

Daisy Scalchi, BBC Television’s Head of Commissioning, Religion and Ethics, says: "This is the fifth annual Faith and Hope season and once again I'm incredibly excited by the range of programmes we have on offer this Spring. Whether audiences are religious or not, there is content here that will move, inspire and delight."

Tim Pemberton, BBC Radio's Head of Religion and Ethics, says: “At this special time of year, BBC Radio seeks to bring people together to reflect on their faith, to hear some amazing stories and to experience the uplifting power of extraordinary music."

More details will be announced in due course.