LONDON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- An orchestra of 8,000 bells will ring in Manchester for one of the premier international arts festivals, it was announced on Monday.

Yoko Ono, artist and widow of Beatles songwriter John Lennon, will headline the biennial Manchester International Festival (MIF).

The MIF will start with her art project Bells of Peace, in which thousands of members of the public will join together in the grounds of the city's cathedral to spontaneously ring in the festival opening.

"The beauty of this piece will break the sky and more," Ono said in a statement on Monday.

"One of the reasons this is very different is the fact that all of us will be making the sound together -- more than ever, we must come together to heal each other, and the world. Peace is power!" she said.

Ono is renowned for her music and her avant garde art projects, and is joined at the top of the MIF bill by actor Idris Elba, who gained fame and awards in internationally acclaimed TV series and films.

Elba has written a musical called Tree with theater director Kwame Kwei-Armah about South African youth in the era of liberation and Nelson Mandela.

They head up a roster of artists from across the globe creating an enormous variety of new work in spaces throughout the city of Manchester.

MIF artistic director John McGrath said: "Yoko Ono will be creating a very special opening event for Mancunians and the world in the city centre. Idris Elba is one of the most dynamic creative figures working today, and... he brings his vision and passion to a brand-new piece of musical theater."

The biennial festival in the post-industrial city of Manchester in the north of England is one of the world's leading festivals of new and original arts projects, covering theater, film, music, art, performance, and dance.

MIF will be held next year from July 4 to July 21.