{"id":477396,"date":"2025-12-29T10:29:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T10:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/477396\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T10:29:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T10:29:18","slug":"ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-2000-pound-liberty-bell-twin-at-cherry-street-pier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/477396\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring in the New Year with a 2,000-pound Liberty Bell twin at Cherry Street Pier"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the country inches ever closer to its 250th anniversary, there is one iconic Philadelphia symbol that is ringing loud and clear over all the celebrations. Not only is one of the city\u2019s semiquincentennial programs called \u201cRing It On!<\/a>\u201d, but the Liberty Bell \u2014 and replicas of it \u2014 is playing a large role in kicking off 2026.<\/p>\n

To celebrate New Year\u2019s, the National Liberty Museum is transporting its fully functional, historic 2,000-pound \u201cyounger sibling\u201d of the Liberty Bell to Cherry Street Pier<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time we\u2019re taking it out of the museum since we put it in with the museum\u2019s opening,\u201d said Alaine Arnott, president and CEO of the National Liberty Museum<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a 2,000-pound bell we\u2019re moving across Philadelphia,\u201d she added. \u201cIt could snow. It could sleet \u2026 Who knows what it looks like. Our job is to be good stewards of that bell and get it there hopefully safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The bell, which you can ring at the museum, will be transported to Cherry Street Pier for New Year\u2019s celebrations. (Courtesy of National Liberty Museum)<\/p>\n

The NLM bell was made at the Whitechapel Foundry in London, the very same one that created the original Liberty Bell. Arnott estimates it to be around a century old. The Whitechapel Foundry closed in 2017, and the NLM team is currently doing research into learning more about its history. Arnott said she believes the foundry created about nine other historic younger sibling bells like this one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike the actual Liberty Bell, the NLM\u2019s version is ringable and includes a\u00a0 \u201creplica crack\u201d down the side. In addition to the pier\u2019s celebration with fireworks, an ice rink, music and games, attendees will be allowed to take a turn and ring it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny person that gets to ring the bell can\u2019t help it but smile ear to ear,\u201d Arnott said. \u201cYou ring that bell for the first time, and you\u2019re just [excited] and you get the goosebumps.\u201d<\/p>\n

So many bells<\/p>\n

The Liberty Bell will continue to play an important role in America\u2019s semiquincentennial celebrations into the New Year.\u00a0 In addition to the city\u2019s historic bells, new versions of the Liberty Bell will continue to be cast in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cassandra Coleman, executive director of America250PA<\/a>, oversees the Bells Across PA <\/a>project, in which local artists have been chosen to paint fiberglass Liberty Bell replicas. The bells are now getting displayed throughout Pennsylvania, with at least one in each of the state\u2019s 67 counties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Liberty Bell, which is such a symbol of Pennsylvania, it\u2019s a symbol of freedom,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cI think it was just kind of a given that we took the Liberty Bell in a three-by-three fiberglass form, and we said to communities across this commonwealth \u2026 to these folks and these local artists, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s tell a story.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Cindy Lozito paints her bell with scenes from South Philadelphia\u2019s Italian Market. (Emma Lee\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

The bell project is among America250PA\u2019s most ambitious initiatives \u2014 with each artist painting a story that is important to them, highlighting the history of different communities around the state. Beyond live events, the organization is also launching a $250,000 scholarship program for graduating Pennsylvania seniors planning to attend an in-state college or university next fall. Applications are now open, and 25 students will be awarded $10,000 each.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have our bronze semiquincentennial bells,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cThese are bronze permanent bells, thousands of pounds, and they\u2019re being installed. There\u2019ll be six total at locations across the Commonwealth that are just undertold and lesser known. We\u2019ve placed three thus far, and three more will be placed next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The semiquincentennial bells are designed to resemble Pennsylvania\u2019s Bicentennial Bell<\/a> \u2014 also cast by the Whitechapel Foundry and presented by Britain\u2019s Queen Elizabeth to the U.S. to commemorate America\u2019s bicentennial in 1976 \u2014 that resides at the Independence National Historic Park in Old City.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We\u2019re] really using this symbol of a bell to talk about freedom, to talk about some of these undertold stories,\u201d Coleman said.<\/p>\n

Coming to a neighborhood near you<\/p>\n

Philadelphia will be unveiling its 22 bells on Jan. 16. They will be located in different neighborhoods and communities across the city. Coleman claimed that using the Liberty Bell as a symbol for the state\u2019s 250th celebrations was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese fiberglass bells may not ring, but they are far from silent, as they really are an invitation,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cThey\u2019re an invitation to start conversation. They\u2019re an invitation to tell the story \u2014 to highlight these communities and their stories. They\u2019ll echo through history as being locked into the 250th anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Fireworks at the Cherry Street Pier. (Maria Young for DRWC)<\/p>\n

While it may seem silly to dedicate so much energy to a cracked bell for the big anniversary, the Liberty Bell has always been larger than the sum of its parts \u2014 a reminder of our individual rights in times of chaos and confusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think all of us need something \u2014 an icon, or something to cling to \u2014 because that is a symbol of what our Founding Fathers, all of those folks, fought for in terms of creating a liberal democracy,\u201d Arnott said. \u201cWhen you hear something like a bell. It\u2019s a sound of gathering \u2026 It called people to church. It called people to school, and it was about those opportunities that you\u2019re given as Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that, in 2026, we\u2019re reminded of what we fought for,\u201d she added. \u201cWe have to continue to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the country inches ever closer to its 250th anniversary, there is one iconic Philadelphia symbol that is…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":477397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,25417,648,407,1322,472,1448,2830,1311,34086,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-477396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-america-250","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-featured","13":"tag-history","14":"tag-pa","15":"tag-pennsylvania","16":"tag-philadelphia","17":"tag-semiquincentennial","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115802391686572390","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}