2022 BING CROSBY FILM FESTIVAL

If you are in Spokane in December, you might want to check out this wonderful film festival...

SPOKANE, Wash. — If you’re not the biggest fan of Halloween or Thanksgiving, you’ll want to circle this on your calendar.

The 2022 Bing Crosby Holiday Film Festival is coming back to Spokane in December. On December 10-11, you can watch some of Crosby’s best films, including two showings of his most famous movie “White Christmas.” The festival will also debut his rarely seen 1938 musical “Sing You Sinners.”

There will also be live performances from The Zonky Jazz Band and Howard Crosby, who is the son of Bing’s brother, Ted. Howard will perform with the popular Celtic Christmas trio Everdream formerly known as “Affiniti.”

This is also the 80th year of Crosby’s recording of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” one of the most popular songs around Christmastime.

The special weekend benefit event will happen at the Bing Crosby Theater in downtown Spokane.

The event is put on by the non-profit Bing Crosby Advocates. 

Here is the schedule for the movie: showings:

SATURDAY, DEC. 10 

Noon to 2:00 p.m. – “White Christmas”

2:45 to 4:15 p.m. – “Road to Utopia”
5:30 to 6:30 p.m. – Howard Crosby
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. – “White Christmas”

SUNDAY, DEC. 11

Noon to 2:40 p.m. – “The Bells of St. Mary’s”
3:00 to 4:30 p.m. – “Sing You Sinners”
5:45 to 6:30 p.m. – The Zonky Jazz Band
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. – Howard Crosby and Everdream (formerly “Affiniti”)

Proceeds from the event will go to the Bing Crosby House Museum on Gonzaga’s campus at 508 E. Sharp Ave. in Spokane.

Tickets cost $20, but are free for those who are 17 years old and younger. Tickets are on sale at TicketsWest.com.

HOWARD CROSBY AND BING'S IRISH ROOTS

The nephew of legendary crooner Bing Crosby has said the singer was always "enormously proud" of his Irish roots.

Howard Crosby (above) was speaking ahead of a concert in which he was performing in honour of the bi-centenary of the founder of St Vincent de Paul, Frederic Ozanam. "The Irish were second-class citizens in America for the better part of 100 years," he said. "But when Bing Crosby (right) openly acknowledged and celebrated his Irish ancestry . . . it went from being something you might have been ashamed of, to something that was cool."

The charity concert was held last week in the National Concert Hall.

Also singing was 'X Factor' contestant Mary Byrne (above). In 1995, Mary was struggling with her finances and received help from the charity. "I always said if I could give back a little I would," she said...

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BING BLURB: HOWARD CROSBY

Here is an interesting blurb I found on the internet regarding Bing's nephew Howard Crosby...

Sometimes things just write themselves:

“Singer Bing Crosby’s geologist nephew, Howard, a major shareholder in a recent AIM IPO Black Mountain Resources Limited, is on the road in London this week with the board of directors as they 'Look for the Silver Lining’ for their silver play in the US. Crosby, with 'Silverbells’ on is telling London how they are 'Gonna Build a Mountain’ with their near-term production in Idaho and Montana.”

Glad to see he’s not riding on his uncle’s coat tails."

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HOWARD CROSBY: BING'S NEPHEW

Bing’s nephew Howard is a chip off the old block
By Alan Owens

A SHARED love for the game of golf bonded Howard Crosby and his late Uncle Bing, but a love for music discovered in later life has seen the nephew attempt to emulate the legendary crooner.

Howard Crosby will perform at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL this Friday in aid of the Derry based charity Children in Crossfire. The charity’s founder, Richard Moore, was behind the visit of the Dalai Lama to UL.

Crosby will perform old Bing favourites as well as sharing anecdotes and stories about his famous relation, who had strong Irish roots.

“This whole idea sprung from a friend of mine in Dublin, who saw that we did a show in the UK last year which was very well received,” explains Howard, a 60-something native of Spokane, Washington, where Bing was also from.

“We were asked to come to Ireland because he is a friend of Richard Moore of Children in Crossfire. We have done the show for charities in the States and in England and it will be pretty much the same show, with a few additions that are designed to stir the Irish spirit if you will, some of the Irish songs that my uncle recorded years ago,” explains Howard.

Bing and Howard’s father’s own grandparents emigrated from Schull in Cork in 1870 and there was always a strong tradition of music in the family. Howard, however, didn’t take up singing until later life, and is a successful businessman in his own right.

“As I like to tell people, if your uncle is Bing Crosby, you need to find another line of work, which I did,” he laughs. “I started out singing in a church choir when I was in my mid-20s and the next thing you know they had made a soloist out of me and pretty soon after that I was singing and performing more and more. I will say that it is true that anywhere I sing some of his songs, it is in the same key as Uncle Bing, so let’s just leave it at that,” he smiles.

While Howard’s heritage ties him to Hollywood royalty, he shares more with his late uncle than a love of golf and his talent is no mere mimicry, having performed in London, Dublin and the US, singing jazz and contemporary American classics as well as Bing favourites.

Howard Crosby performs in Theatre 1 in UL’s Irish World Academy this Friday at 8pm.

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