Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival

The Pirates of St Piran at the festival in 2012.

When: 12th – 14th June 2015

Where: Falmouth, Cornwall

£: Tickets for the Gala cost £10.80. The festival is free but the event raises money for charity, so all donations are welcome.

What is it?

This year’s Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival takes place over the weekend of 12th to 14th June 2015, filling the town with singing and merriment.

The festival was originally devised as a novel way of raising funds for the RNLI and this year’s event will be the biggest yet with 53 shanty groups and 21 venues taking part.

Groups come from far and wide to perform the shanties. Some dress in seafaring outfits such as The Pirates of St Piran, who dress appropriately enough in pirate costumes, and groups sing songs such as the Drunken Sailor and A Drop of Nelson’s Blood.

RNLI’s Stormy Stan with Betty Stogs at Customs House Quay.

This year’s festival kicks off on the evening of Friday 12th June, with the opening ceremony at 6.30pm in the Events Square. The singing commences at 7pm and finishes just after 10pm. The shanty singing will then continue on the Saturday and Sunday. Performers over the weekend will include Short Drag Roger, The Barnacle Buoys, The Nauti Buoys, The Longest Johns and Swinging the Lead.

Events will be taking place at various venues around Falmouth including a stage at Custom House Quay, the Watersports Centre and the Quayside Inn.

Skinner’s Betty Stogs will be there, helping to raise money for charity. There will be a Beat Betty Challenge, a fundraising competition between the sea shanty groups, to raise money for the RNLI. Last year the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival raised over £10,000 for the RNLI.

Below is a video of Betty Stogs joining in with the singing at the 2011 festival.