You won’t be imagining the bells.

The literal ringing on New Years Day—hours of it, and all across town—will be courtesy of the new National Bell Festival, otherwise known as BellFest.

The Knight’s Tower at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception will ring out carols and hymns on its 56-bell carillon. The Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna will open especially for a Korean bell ringing. The Washington Ringing Society will attempt a full peal, which takes as long as three and a half hours, at the Washington National Cathedral. An ensemble of handbell ringers will, somewhat incongruously, loop around the National Mall on a double decker tour bus.

And at 2 p.m., every bell in the city has been invited to chime out for 20 minutes.

The non-profit behind the event says that during the rest of the year they work to “restore bells and towers across D.C. to their former thundering glory.” They are currently helping restore a historic bell at Georgetown Lutheran Church that hasn’t been rung since 1871.

On New Years Day, though, the goal is to bring people together; BellFest has adopted the Latin motto civitas resonet, or “let the community ring.” There are a number of events associated with the festival (yoga, geocaching, a lecture, and a whiskey tasting, among them) that are sold out, but the series of bell ringings—those will bellow for all to hear.

If you’re near the Washington Cathedral, it will be hard to miss. A band of ringers will attempt a “full peal” on all 10 peal bells—which involves changing the sequence of the bells 5,040 times—starting at 12:45 p.m. Visitors are invited to take a guided meditation walk to listen.

An hour later, starting at 1:45 p.m., a carillon recital will take place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

And at 2 p.m., bells across the city—including at All Souls Episcopal Church, the Armed Forces Retirement Home, and Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon, along with the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Virginia—will ring for 20 minutes. 

It definitely will not be a figment of a New Years-addled brain.