Bells, Bells: October Action Starts Now

Sound the bells and start your clocks: this weekend marks the opening action for an exciting month filled with Legend, Legend Behind Legend, Horseman's Hollow, Croton’s Blaze and so much more here and nearby (see our Events listings for more). 

Providing a soundtrack for the season, the Mobile Millennium Carillon is here! Don’t know what a mobile carillon is? Well, you’re in for a treat.

“This awe-inspiring instrument thrills audiences with its five and one-half tons of cast bronze bells," Robert Wingate of Sleepy Hollow’s Old Dutch Church said. "Hearing the bells, and feeling the vibration of their sound, will make for a unique and dynamic hands-on outdoor musical experience."

Parked at the historic church grounds at 430 North Broadway, visitors can play this unique traveling instrument for a nominal fee when the burying grounds and the famous church itself are open to visitors from noon to 4 p.m. on weekends through October.

The carillon, which last spent 15 years touring Europe and is now one of two such contraptions in the U.S., is a set of large church bells connected to an organ-style keyboard, all sitting on a truck bed.

For more information on how to see and hear it for yourself click here.

And thanks to Sean Chillemi for sharing this video of it in action. 

Here in Ossining, there’s also a chance for bell-fans to get close to the action, this time to hear the story of the clock and its parts topping the First Presbyterian Church.

“Please join us for a very informative talk on clocks, bells and all the mechanical parts that make them run,” Patricia Sacchi said. The church clock got its start at Sing Sing which makes the story even more fun. For more information, click here.