THE bells are ringing out in Spitalfields on Thursday (March 6) for the start of London s East Festival. Around 150 bellringers, or campanologists, are taking up a challenge of ringing the bells in 22 historic churches in East London and The City

THE bells are ringing out in Spitalfields on Thursday (March 6) for the start of London's East Festival.

Around 150 bellringers, or campanologists, are taking up a challenge of ringing the bells in 22 historic churches in East London and The City, between 6 and 8pm.

Bellringers are also on hand to teach visitors to Spitalfields how to play the Charmborough Ring, a portable bell tower with six tenor bells weighing 3/4cwt each.

The Charmborough Ring is being set up in Bishops-square, off Commercial-street, overlooked by the iconic Christ Church.

Churches taking part include Christ Church, Spitalfields, St Botolph at Aldgate, St Botolph at Bishopsgate, St George-in-the-East, Shadwell, St Matthew's, Bethnal Green, St Mary-atte-Bow, St Dunstan's-in-the-East, Stepney, St Leonard's at Shoreditch, St John-the-Baptist in Hackney and All Saints, West Ham, as well as St Paul's Cathedral in the City.

The East Festival runs for six days from Thursday until next Tuesday (March 11) with 400 events by 50 organisations and venues. These include visual arts, history, film, food and fashion, from Whitechapel, Hackney, Spitalfields, Stratford, Canary Wharf and The Barbican.