Sing Christmas

On Christmas Day 1957, the BBC made a ground-breaking hour-long live broadcast.

Christmas songs were transmitted from around the British Isles.

Texan folklorist and broadcaster Alan Lomax was the host.

The broadcast was a mixture of ancient carols, folk songs, calypso, West African music, dixieland, skiffle, children's carols and glees.

Singers across the country contributed live performances, with Lomax sitting at the centre of the web in a Birmingham studio.

It was thrilling, innovative and daring.

This musical time capsule gathers the memories of those involved to recapture the flavour of this pioneering BBC broadcast.

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2004.