10-12th October 2025
Welcome to Harwich International Shanty Festival. Our annual festival has taken place every October since 2006 and over that period public awareness of Britain’s legacy of shanties and sea songs has soared. We are proud to have been at the forefront of this surge of interest and keen to continue to promote and celebrate the important maritime history of our home town of Harwich and of our island nation. During the twenty years HISF has been running we have hosted shanty crews and singers from the UK and from all over the world. From enthusiastic soloist to large choirs the standard and variety of performances has been excellent, with chances for the audience to sing along lustily or listen with admiration to the musicianship demonstrated. Harwich is a welcoming town with centuries of history for the visitor to explore and we hope you will enjoy your visit and come again – and again!!
Over the Festival weekend the whole of the old seaport town of Harwich rings with the sound of hearty singing with shanties and music emanating from pubs, boats, clubs and our many historic buildings. There are street theatre sketches, maritime crafts, pirates and historical re-enactment, barge trips, shanty trains, walks, talks and workshops on offer and the town filled with colour as visitors soaked up the atmosphere created over this special weekend.
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If you wish to contact the festival organisers please note that we do not have an office and that all of the management and staff are volunteers with multiple responsibilities. We therefore may take a while to respond but we do promise to do our best!
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