On 27 July 2012 from 8:00 until 8:03am, Essex residents are being asked to join the nation in welcoming in the first day of London 2012 by ringing a bell.

The piece entitled, ‘Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes’ by Turner Prize-winning artist and musician Martin Creed, will be performed throughout the UK to celebrate the first day of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (as part of the London 2012 Festival - www.festival.london2012.com) and to welcome the 205 nations to the UK.

Essex County Councillor Stephen Castle, Cabinet Member for Education and the 2012 Games, urged everyone to participate saying: “This arts project is designed so that everyone in the country can feel part of the whole Olympic experience so I encourage everyone in Essex to join in the fun by ringing their bells and show the world how excited we are in Essex to be hosting the mountain bike competition at Hadleigh.”

What sort of bell can you ring?  From church bells to door bells and everything in between – so come on Essex let’s make some noise.  Whatever you’re doing – ringing your front door bell, your bike bell, your school bell, or organising a street party to ring all sorts of bells together – we want you to add your ringing location to the big event map at www.allthebells.com.

For more information on this and to find out what other London 2012 celebrations are happening in your area check out www.essexlegacy.org.