The traditional LIGHT IN THE DARK Christmas program once again calls for charity and solidarity with fellow human beings
Vienna (OTS) – This is the 46th anniversary of the traditional LIGHT IN THE DARK Christmas broadcast, which, in its 51st year of action, is once again all about solidarity and charity and accompanies people in Austria through Christmas Eve.
From 9:05 a.m., Barbara Stöckl and Peter Resetarits welcome the ORF 2 audience again, before Norbert Oberhauser and the “ORF Allstars Band” provide the musical atmosphere for Christmas live and throughout the day. In addition to talks with important representatives from politics, church and the public, there are several connections to Bad Ischl, where Robert Kratky, Andi Knoll and Gabi Hiller report on the “Ö3 Christmas miracle”. Andreas Onea will hold discussions with prominent guests who help with the donation telephones in the A1 donation center. The LIGHT INTO THE DARK broadcast will reach its first highlight around midday when Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and other prominent personalities will be guests live in the studio with Eva Pölzl and Tarek Leitner.
The program will then be switched to the respective federal states, where the ORF state studios will provide a regional Christmas atmosphere. An important ongoing program point for LICHT INS DUNKEL on Christmas Eve is the multiple presentation of selected inclusion projects, which explain how the LICHT INS DUNKEL association supports people in Austria in a variety of ways with the donated money collected.
Christmas singing for LIGHT IN THE DARK
At 4:52 p.m., Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen will wish you a “Merry Christmas,” before the “ORF Allstars Band” will accompany numerous artists in a tried-and-tested manner with a potpourri of traditional national and international Christmas songs from 5 p.m. (until 7 p.m.). Michael Schade, Vincent Bueno, Marjan Shaki and many more create a festive atmosphere in the country’s living rooms with songs such as “Es ist ein Ros sprungen”, “Leise trickeln der Schnee” or “Silent Night, Holy Night”. The song lyrics are displayed as scrolling text on the screen and invite you to sing along. Eva Pölzl and Tarek Leitner will guide you through this ideal companion for Christmas Eve and the Viennese priest Julia Schnizlein will read a Christmas story.
Despite difficult conditions, the ORF Peace Light from Bethlehem also plays a central role this year. It can be picked up on December 24th in train stations, the ORF state studios, Youth Red Cross offices and many parishes and shines as a constant sign of Christmas peace.
Christmas Eve is completely barrier-free for LIGHT IN THE DUNKEL
On the big LIGHT IN THE DARK day on December 24th on ORF 2, all national live entries will be in the studio (9:05 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) for deaf and hearing-impaired viewers as well as for the blind and visually impaired audiences in Austrian Sign Language, with subtitling and acoustic image description. The Evangelical Christmas Vespers (7 p.m.) will be broadcast with subtitles and audio commentary, spoken by Johannes Karner and Marco Uschmann. The broadcast of the Christmas mass from Rome with Pope Francis (10:50 p.m.) will be audio commented live with a time delay by Johannes Karner and theologian Michaela Starosciak. The editions of the “FeierAbend” program on December 24th, 25th and 26th will be subtitled and traditionally interpreted into Austrian Sign Language. Live subtitles are available for the Christmas blessing “urbi et orbi” on December 25th.
The live subtitles of the national live introductions for deaf and hearing-impaired viewers are available on ORF TELETEXT on page 777 and on the ORF TVthek. For blind and visually impaired people, the programs are provided with live audio commentary by Wolfgang Slavik, Lukas Osztovics and Johannes Karner. The audio commentary can be switched on via the remote control on the second audio track. Furthermore, the national live introductions are offered in Austrian sign language and translated by the ÖGS interpreting team Barbara Gerstbach, Delil Yilmaz and Lidija Sammer – on ORF 2 Europe (via satellite and cable), ORF 2 SD (via simpliTV), on the ORF -TV library via live stream and video on demand. The barrier-free programs are marked on tv.ORF.at and are available seven days as video-on-demand on the ORF TVthek.
LIGHT INTO THE DARK on the ORF online channels
The ORF.at network provides information about LIGHT INTO THE DARK as part of its current reporting. In addition to detailed information about the campaign, the website lichtinsschwarz.ORF.at also offers a donation tool provided by A1. All the facts about online and SMS donations and the acquisition of ORF-LICHT INS DUNKEL company partnerships can also be found there.
The ORF TVthek dedicates a thematic focus (“In Focus”) to LIGHT IN THE DUNKEL, which includes an extensive live stream and video-on-demand offering, including the broadcast on Christmas Eve. Current stories about the campaign, program information (from page 300) and all information about donation options (page 680) are available on ORF TELETEXT.
You can donate to LIGHT IN THE DARK all year round by calling or texting the free A1 donation phone number 0800 664 24 12, via lichtinsschwarz.ORF.at and on Facebook at ORFLichtinsDunkel. All information about donation options can also be found in the ORF TELETEXT on page 680.
Further information about the fundraising campaign can be found at lichtinsschwarz.ORF.at