Shanty Newsletter - March 2020

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Artists for 2020

And the big announcement for our March Newsletter is that our 2020 Artists are now confirmed and listed on our website: https://harwichshantyfestival.co.uk/category/artists-4-2020/

It’s a big line up full of talented performers, fitting for this, our 15th Festival and also the 400th Anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower. Historic Harwich is celebrating its links with the Mayflower all year and we fully intend to do this justice at our special Festival this year. There is something for everyone, with performers from all over the world and a special Mayflower Concert featuring Artists from all the main Mayflower 400 destinations. Take a look!

Rogue Shanty Buoys

The Shanty Workshop with Rogue Shanty Buoys, held on 22nd February, was indeed a roaring success with all attendees expressing positive comments on the whole day, including the superb concert in the evening. There is footage on Facebook and our website if you want to see what you missed and we are already planning our February 2021 workshop. More details on that soon. And you will be pleased to hear that we have already booked the Buoys for our 2021 Shanty Festival.

Shanty Sundays at the Pier

The Naze Shanty Crew were singing at the Pier Hotel this month on March 8th as part of our Shanty Sundays on the Pier series of concerts. This is proving to be a popular venture and audiences for the past three months have been very appreciative. April 12th, Easter Sunday, features Wivenhoe group the Hoolies, so get along there for an Easter Sunday lunch with a difference.

Alan Whitbread

I’m sure most of you will have heard by now that Alan Whitbread who has been a staunch supporter of our Festival for many years, passed away on 3rd March. Full tribute on our Facebook Page, but we shall all miss Alan for both his musical expertise and also his indefatigable optimism and zest for life. His funeral is on April 3rd at Evesham in Worcestershire. Again full details on our Facebook Page.

Co-Op Green Token Scheme

We are currently waiting to hear how we fared with the Co-Op Green Token Scheme and hope to be able to impart some positive news on this next month.

Melodeons-on-Sea

We are very sorry to announce that the Melodeons-on-Sea workshop due to be held here in Harwich over the weekend of 18/19th April has just been cancelled. The current situation with the Coronavirus has already caused cancellations and the organisers feel that the financial stability of the event, coupled with the uncertainty of keeping the public safe, leave no other alternative. A 2021 event is however planned to replace this particular workshop.

Covid-19

And finally on the subject of Covid-19; our current position is to continue to plan for our October Festival as usual. There are still more than 6 months to go, which hopefully will mean that the situation will have improved considerably by then. However it is obviously sensible to continually re-evaluate and any change in plans will be publicised via our usual channels, website, Facebook, Twitter, Newsletter. Meanwhile please keep safe if you can and wash those hands!

 

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