Residents will be asked to ring anything from church bells to door bells to launch the start of this year’s Barnaby Festival.
Organisers of the arts and culture festival are planning a mass ring-in, entitled Bell-issimo, to kick things off on June 21.
They want as many people as possible to turn up at Macclesfield’s Market Place at 6pm with whatever type of bell they can lay their hands on.
Nicholas Smith, director of Macclesfield’s Silk Opera, will be co-ordinating the event. He explained: “We wanted to open the third Barnaby Festival with a flourish, with as many bells as possible ringing together – so church bells, hand bells, tubular bells, door bells, mobile phone bells, alarm bells, cycle bells… you name it, we want you to ring it!”
Residents are being told to search their homes for anything they can ring, or even make their own using a tin can and a stone.
They will join bellringers at St Michael’s, St Peter’s and Christ Church, who will ring a total of 30 church bells during the 15-minute celebration.
James Marchbank, of St Michael’s church, who is helping to coordinate the church bellringers, said: “We think it’s a wonderful idea. It’s also a great opportunity to ring all the church bells together and to promote the art of church bell ringing, which has been around for centuries. The oldest of the bells at Christ Church were cast in 1777, so play an important part in the history of Macclesfield.”
The event will be broadcast live by Silk 106.9FM and Canalside Community Radio.