Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival
The Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival was founded and is organised by Falmouth Shout. With the support of the RNLI and continuing work by members of Falmouth Shout, it has become a successful and popular annual event. The Festival has three main aims:
- To create an enjoyable event for all involved
- To raise money for the RNLI
- To preserve and promote the maritime heritage of Falmouth and Cornwall
2008 Festival
Plans are well under way for the 2008 Festival taking place from Friday 13th June to Sunday 15th June. This will be our fifth annual Festival! Many groups who have attended in previous years will be back for repeat performances....they seem to really enjoy the atmosphere....or is it the wonderful Skinner's Ale and sumptuous Oggy Oggy pasties? We have also had keen interest from other groups from as far and wide who will be joining the festivities for the first time, so we anticipate welcoming friends old and new this year.
Groups Performing at the 2008 Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival
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2 Anchors: A four piece shanty group based in Gloucester (and Essex) they have recently appeared at the Gloucester Tall Ships Festival. Although small they have a large presence, and concentrate mainly on shanties and the occasional sea song that appears in their performances. They have been known to perform in kilts.
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Cadgwith Singers: Cadgwith, a picturesque cove and fishing village on the Lizard peninsula has had a tradition of singing for many years. Friday nights at the Cadgwith Cove Inn are famous throughout Cornwall for although there is no music and no rehearsal, anyone who turns up can sing. The singers can also be heard raising their voices after rugby matches, regattas, birthdays and other special occasions.
- Cape Cornwall Singers: Cape Cornwall singers were formed early in 1997 in an attempt to resurrect
the singing tradition in the local pubs around St Just. A very familiar sound
at weekends and especially during St Just Feast, singing in the town had declined
in recent years due mainly to the closure of our local tin mines. The first
of many public appearances came in April 1997, to be followed by a guest appearance
at the Tall Ship's concert at Pendennis Castle in July and the Cornish Gorsedd
in September of 1998. Brief television appearances, local radio exposure and
the release of a number of CD's have kept Cape Cornwall Singers in the public
eye. Much of their success is due to the efforts of singer songwriter Harry
Glasson who continues to write many of their most popular songs about Cornwall,
its people and traditions. The Singers have been on many "tours",
from the Scilly Isles to Ireland and Australia.
- Charlotte and Spong: Charlotte and Spong are a couple who sing sea shanties and sea songs in harmony, accompanied on the fiddle and concertina. They have played at a variety of events in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, entertained Tall Ships enthusiasts at the National Maritime Museum and nearer home in Brighton, have played for local fishermen at their 'Blessing of the Nets' Festival. Their music has been played abroad in France, Germany, Belgium and Holland
- Cherbourgh Shanties: Cherbourg Shanties is a group of French Shanty Singers made up of men and women who live in the Cherbourg area. They are an offshoot of Amarrage which is an association of volunteers for rebuilding old ships working with the local hospital for rehabilitating patients. The full choir has over 30 members and they meet every week to rehearse and perform locally for schools, charity events and old peoples clubs.
- Exmouth Shantymen: The Exmouth Shanty Men sing with gusto! They muster most Tuesday evenings at the Beacon Vaults, Exmouth, where they sing their hearts out, tell tall tales, drink fine ales and dream of better weather. Their live shows consist of deck songs, heartbreaking ballads and all manner of larks and tomfoolery. They appear at festivals and concerts across the South West and raise money for local charities and the RNLI as well as other causes related to the sea. The Exmouth Shanty Men made their debut on main stage at The Exmouth Festival and have since appeared at many events.
- Falmouth Shout: Falmouth Shout is a group of friends who have been singing together for five years. We enjoy singing shanties and sea songs along with traditional Cornish songs. We are launching our second CD this year and will be the official shanty group entertaining the masses at the prestigious Funchal 500 Tall Ships Regatta at the start of the race in September 2008. In our spare time, we organise Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival!!!
- Fishermen's Friends: A group of nine Cornish lads who live in or near Port Isaac, who all have a connection to the sea either as fishermen, RNLI members, boatyard workers, Coastguard or Cliff Rescue Staff. They have been singing together for around six years after deciding to raise money for local charities by singing at Port Isaac Harbour on Fridays throughout the summer. They have sung at many national events including the Royal Albert Hall and have been regularly seen at the Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival.
- Hanging Johnny: A group of singers from Plymouth and East Cornwall who present shanties and songs of the sea from the great age of sail, and some more modern songs. They specialise in audience participation and above all want their audiences to have fun! Hanging Johnny have performed at Maritime, Music & Arts Festivals at home and in Europe performing in pubs, clubs and theatres. They have been seen busking in the streets, organising pub sing-arounds and running performance workshops.
- Ken Okines: Shropshire-based Ken Okines has delighted audiences for forty years with a wide repertory of songs, poems and stories in the British tradition. He has spent more hours than he cares to think about at Cecil Sharp House library finding gems to sing, and scouring antique shops for old writings. His biggest live audience was 5,000 (twice) and his smallest 1, for the opening night of a floating bar which the proprietor had forgotten to advertise! Broadcasting appearances include BBC Radio 4, Radio London, Radio Bedfordshire and Radio Gloucestershire, but he says that of course he’s getting on now so you’d best see him soon while he’s still alive!
- Kimber's Men: Kimber's Men were formed in the summer of 2001. Members of the group have previously sung with operatic societies, the Bradshaw Mummers, the Northern Ballet and as a duo on the folk scene in West Yorkshire. They play a selection of instruments and write some of their own songs performing at an impressive list of sea and folk festivals from the very West of West Wales to South and East England, and from Cumbria and Northumberland in the North to Jersey and Portsmouth in the South. Joe Stead has performed in concert with Pete Seeger and Paul Robeson. Audiences have raved over Kimber's Men and their harmonies have been described as being superb.
- Rum & Shrub: Rum and
Shrub Shantymen are a group of singers from Cornwall with a worldwide reputation
for lively singing of shanties, sea songs and traditional folk songs. They
have been singing together for many years and are equally at home on a concert
stage, on a boat or quay, or in a bar. They are enthusiastic supporters of
the RNLI and have performed at many events such as Brest, Portsmouth International
Maritime Festivals and L'Orient Interceltic and Cornwall Folk Festivals. The
name Rum and Shrub is taken from one of Cornwall's best kept secrets and is
a favourite throat 'medicine' - Shrub being an alcoholic cordial reputed to
have been enjoyed by smugglers to disguise the salty taste of their contraband,
and rum being rum. It is drunk to ensure clarity of voice, - if not head!
- Sheringham Shantymen: Sheringham Shantymen were launched in 1990 by local lifeboat men celebrating the town's history and lifeboats. Today the group proudly wears the RNLI insignia on their logo as that close connection is continued and maintained. In October 2007 that connection saw the group gather in Wicklow, Eire for the naming and launch of the 'D' class inshore lifeboat 'Sheringham Shantymen' which was bought by the Shantymen for the RNLI. As well as national television appearances the group has entertained at prestigious Maritime Festivals both home and abroad having twice visited the USA and more recently Germany Holland and Ireland. The Sheringham Shantymen have been busy in the early part of this year recording a new CD which at time of writing has no title but it is hoped it will be available for this year's Falmouth Festival. This being their fourth visit to Falmouth they look forward to meeting up with old and new friends alike.
- Stamp & Go: Stamp & Go are a group of shanty singers recently
formed by some of the choir, the Perraners, hailing from Perranporth on Cornwall's
beautiful North Coast. In April 2008, they organised a successfully and terrifically
fun Shanty Festival themselves, held at the Watering Hole in Perranporth.
We're sure their popularity as a shanty group will continue to grow, as will
their Festival, and certain to become a "must attend" annual event.
- Tavy Tars: The Tavy Tars were formed in 2003 to provide a shanty or two at a social function for the newly formed Tamar and Tavy Gig Club. From that event they continued to build their repertoire and abilities and have done monthly performances at their local pub, appeared at the Tavistock and Morewellham Folk Festivals, the Dartmouth Classic Boat Rally as well as three musical shows in the Bere Ferrers village. They performed their fifth anniversary show in April 2008. Their repertoire includes traditional shanties plus a variety of songs by Show of Hands, Stan Rogers, Gordon Lightfoot, Ewan Mcoll and others.
- Treverva
Male Voice Choir: Treverva Male Voice Choir have met most Monday evenings
since 1936, at the Methodist Chapel in the small hamlet of Treverva. As well
as performing throughout Cornwall, they have travelled to many parts of the
U.K., California, Holland, France and Belgium with charities benefiting from
their efforts. The choir regularly compete at music festivals winning many
trophies and being named Cornwall Champions on several occasions.
In addition to singing in local halls, Treverva have performed in a variety of venues, including: recording Christmas carols for the BBC down a tin mine, 40,000 feet above the Atlantic in a Jumbo jet, in St. Paul's Cathedral for the RNLI, in the Hollywood Bowl, on a fishing boat during film making and in a cattle shed during an international beef breeders conference (no bull)! They have a wide repertoire and word has it they have been practising songs especially for the Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival!
- Wareham Whalers: The Wareham Whalers were formed as a shanty group in 2004 to keep the tradition of shanties alive around the river Frome and Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. Having started from sing-songs in the local pub, the group developed with encouragement from their women folk, and their inaugural gig was in a local old folks home. Flushed with success the next gig was in the pub garden, passing the pot raised something like £19, (drunk in one round) The Group was formalised and agreed that money raised should go to local charity and Wareham and Purbeck branch of Multiple Sclerosis were to benefit.
Venues (subject to confirmation – full details to be posted soon and will be available at various locations during the Festival):
- Custom House Quay
- The ‘Front (Custom House Quay)
- Chainlocker (Custom House Quay)
- The Quayside (Custom House Quay)
- Events Square
- Prince of Wales Pier
- The Moor
- Five Degrees West - including Special Opening Night Event Friday 13th June from 6pm with meal, shanty singing and raffle.
- St Mawes
- Watersports Centre
Songbook - The Festival Songbook will be available to purchase, for a bargain price of £3.00 (all funds to the RNLI) from:
- RNLI volunteer collectors at the Festival
- Falmouth Booksellers (Church Street, Falmouth)
- Falmouth Tourist Board office (Killigrew Street)
- RNLI Shop (Falmouth)
- Waterman’s Gallery (Custom House Quay, Falmouth)
Sponsors of the 2008 Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival
Without wishing to descend into one of those lengthy Oscar night speeches, we really must give our heartfelt thanks to several people for their support for the Festival, so here goes...
To Steve Skinner, of Skinner's Brewery, for his generosity (or should we say genaleosity?) throughout not only the Sea Shanty Festival year on year, but also in his support for us on numerous other occasions. Oggy Oggy Pasty Co in Arwenack Street for their help to maintain the stamina of the performers with their lovely pasties, and to the following businesses in and around Falmouth, Penryn and St Mawes. As the Festival is self-funding, with all profits going to the RNLI, the generosity of the individuals from these companies is paramount to the success of the Festival.
2007 Festival
The 2007 Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival raised approximately £7,500 for the RNLI. A great success!
Some comments and excerpts from letters following the 2007 Festival:
"Heartfelt thanks to Falmouth Shout for all their hard work in making the Festival such a resounding success." Bernard Fox, Chairman of the Falmouth Branch of the RNLI.
"Congratulations on organizing yet another 'best festival yet'. Once again, we've all enjoyed ourselves immensely and we're looking forward to next year's bash." Alan and Anne Ramsden, Rum & Shrub
To say that the festival knocked the stuffing (no references to PAXO) out of me would not be an understatement. My voice is gone, replaced with an annoying ticklish cough – still, I am getting used to repeating myself. I am now dosed up with Parrotcetamol !!! Our very own Mark Pilgrim, Falmouth Shout member, who bravely wore his parrot costume all weekend, adding fun and frivolity to the Festival.
"Thanks for the great weekend of fun, arrangements and singing. All seemed to enjoy the experience once again." Dennis for Sheringham Shantymen.