KITCHENER -- The countdown to the holidays is on, with less than two weeks until Saint Nick flies around the world with his reindeer, but the pandemic is making this year a challenging one.
That's why an English woman started a movement that's caught on around the globe.
What started off as a small initiative in Mary Beggs-Reid's town has since turned into a worldwide event.
"Within sort of 24 hours it literally exploded and took off," she said.
She wanted to spread some holiday cheer through her Yorkshire town, encouraging everyone to ring a bell for two minutes on Christmas Eve.
"2020's been hard on everyone, all around the world, especially the children and I thought, 'what could we do to put a bit of magic into Christmas Eve again?'" she said.
She said the idea came from the Christmas movie "Elf," where the cast gathers at the end to sing in order to raise the Christmas spirit and help Santa Claus fly his sleigh.
"For two minutes, you know nobody is going to feel alone."
Beggs-Reid started a Facebook group for the event two months ago. Since, the Christmas Eve jingle has caught the attention of the world, from Dubai to Australia and Cuba.
She says people from all over the map, including Waterloo Region, will now be participating in the worldwide Christmas Eve jingle.
She's asking people to come outside at 6 p.m. local time to ring a bell and create "a wave of bells across the world."
"It's amazing, it's going to sound wonderful," she said. "I'll probably be a crying wreck on Christmas Eve when I hear it."
