Join six handbell choirs for the 34th Annual Zanesville Handbell Festival

The event is this Sunday at 7 p.m. in the Grace United Methodist Church

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The Annual Zanesville Handbell Festival returns for its 34th year this Sunday at 7 p.m.

The festival is sponsored by the Thursday Music Club and will take place at Grace United Methodist Church. The Zanesville Handbell Festival features 6 local handbell choirs who come together for what many consider the start of the holiday season for the past 34 years.

“Well, we had some hand bell choirs in the community and it was a new way of playing. Hand bells originally were just a practice instrument for carolers for the bell choirs that have bells in the bells in their steeple, and where do you practice? You practice with small bells, you know. [Don’t] Let the whole community hear your sour notes,” said Jim McLaughlin, one of the event founders. “And so, we thought it would be nice to start a festival and it has taken on. We’ll have a big crowd Sunday night. This will be a big attendance. ”

Another local music update is that members of the Zanesville Civic Chorus will be traveling to New York City where they have been invited to perform in two iconic venues. Ann Lillie Briggs says that this trip was made possible through the support of their local community.

“The community has come together and come to fundraisers that we’ve had or donated some money because it’s a really expensive endeavor to take 44 people to New York City for five days. So, we leave a week from today, the day after Thanksgiving. We leave bright and early,” Lillie Briggs said. “We are not only singing in Carnegie Hall this time, we are also getting to sing on stage at Radio City Music Hall before one of the Rockette performances. So, that’s a new excitement this year. ”

You can learn more about the Zanesville Handbell Festival by visiting the Grace Church Facebook page. Festival organizers reccomend coming early as the church tends to fill up quickly.