Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival returns with 80+ groups from all around the world

This June (Friday 12th – Sunday 14th), the world-famous, award-winning Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival will return to the Cornish port with three days of maritime music for the 22nd year running. More than 80 groups from across the UK and overseas will descend on the town for a jam-packed weekend of jovial song, harbourside harmonies, salty shanties and deck stomping choruses.

The increasingly popular event, which is the largest free nautical music festival in Europe, will once again transform the harbour, pubs, bars, streets and waterfront venues of Falmouth into a celebration of traditional salty songs of the sea. Enthusiastic performers will travel from across the UK as well as internationally, with groups arriving from France, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and beyond.

Since its beginnings in 2004, the festival has grown into a major cultural event attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year, inspiring similar shanty festivals in ports and maritime communities around the world. Today the festival celebrates both the historic roots of maritime work songs and the global community of singers keeping the tradition alive.

Over the years the shanty scene has continued to evolve, with a new generation of performers bringing fresh energy to the tradition. Alongside the more traditional, often male-dominated groups, there are now younger, female, LGBTQ+ and international performers taking up sea shanty singing in their own style, offering new interpretations while honouring the music’s heritage.

The full schedule for Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival 2026 will be announced in the coming weeks, but the festival will welcome back many familiar favourites, including Falmouth’s premier all-female sea shanty group, Acapella Moonshine, who have been performing at the event for 12 years. Another popular returning act is Femmes de la Mer, a 15-strong Cornish group formed ten years ago, who first appeared at the festival in 2015 and have since become regular performers at events across the UK.

The ‘original salty sea dogs’, Falmouth Shout will also return for 2026.  This is the group that decided to create the very first Falmouth shanty festival back in 2004.  The idea was born in the back room of the legendary Seven Stars pub, and many of those original old boys are still singing in the festival each year, despite a number sadly passing on.

LGBTQIA+ sea shanty choir Seaweed in a Fruitlocker will be back for a third year with talented Plymouth-based artist, Rhys Morgan at the helm. Inspired by his upbringing in a rural, coastal community, where he felt both excluded and deeply intrigued by the seafaring songs of his region, he now has a 15+ strong group of wonderful queer choristers in the band. The repertoire consists of cleverly reworked sea shanties, using their shared collective life experiences to inspire new themes.

Festival Chair Richard Gates said, “For over two decades, Falmouth has played host to the International Sea Shanty Festival and long may this continue. It started back in 2004 as a grassroots event with a modest five groups popping up around the town’s Custom House Quay to make their voices heard. Today it is the largest free nautical event in Europe and in 2026, more than 60,000 visitors are expected to see sea shanty groups from all over the world come together to perform all over the town. It really is quite incredible.”

With performances from over 80 groups across multiple venues, visitors can expect a lively programme of music, atmosphere and maritime heritage throughout the town. For more information, including the full schedule (to be announced shortly), visit www.falmouthseashanty.co.uk.