From the Naval town of Portsmouth, Spinnaker Shanty sing traditional and original sea songs and shanties with harmony and humour. They are rapidly making a name for themselves around the […]
Festival Team
Black Deep
Surely that’s the Naze Shanty Crew I hear you cry! But no, rising Phoenix like, from the ashes of a global pandemic, the Naze Shanty Crew with a slimmed down […]
Friggitt
Friggitt are a shanty trio from Wiltshire who perform all sorts of songs connected with the sea and sailors. As well as traditional and contemporary songs they also perform some […]
Freddie’s Barnet
Freddie’s Barnet are an energetic and amusing folk duet performing old and new songs, from traditional sea shanties to singalong classics and occasionally one or two of their own compositions. […]
Fire & Ice
One of the outcomes of the Board of Trade report into the sinking of the Titanic was the formation of six schools teaching Navigation and Seamanship to pupils from the […]
Harwich Sing
Harwich Sing Tendring Voices is a community choir all about the love of singing. They have groups for all ages and all abilities but love to come together and perform […]
Dovercourt Ukulele Group
Ukuleles, originally from Portugal, are now associated mainly with Hawaii where they were introduced by Portuguese sailors and immigrants. Now very popular in the U.K., the Dovercourt Ukulele Club has […]
Summer Shanties On The Pier
We were last able to hold our popular Summer Shanty sessions back in 2019, but have re-instated them for 2022! May 15th was Hoy Boy (video “Randy Dandy Oh”) June […]
Cakes & Shanty Poster
Cakes & Shanties 2022!
On 1st May we held the second of our Shanty’n’Cake Days. Last year this event was a spectacular success, raising in excess of £500 and providing a great day of […]
Shanty Quiz
On April 12th the Alma Inn is hosting one of its famous quizzes and this month all profits go towards the Shanty Festival. In their own words the quiz is “a bunch of […]
Card Payments
In common with other online stores you may see a pop-up from your bank when making a donation or buying merchandise on our site; there is nothing to be concerned […]
Alan Storey
We are deeply saddened to report the death on 21st February of the lovely Alan Storey, talented musician and multi instrumentalist with popular local group Golden Rivets. He and the […]
Pride Of Tendring
We are thrilled and honoured to have received our Pride of Tendring Award at a glittering awards ceremony at the Princes Theatre, Clacton on 11th February.
We won! Festival of the Year!
Woohoo! HISF has won the Essex Section of the East Anglian Festival of the Year. Announced last night on BBC Radio Norfolk/Suffolk. We are thrilled at this honour. Thanks everyone […]
Jan Buijs
Many people will already have heard this news, but for those of you who have not, we are sorry to tell you that the lovely Jan Buijs from Scheepsfolk sadly […]
New Year Sale!
Our 2021 T-Shirts have been reduced from £15 to £8 in our first ever New Year Sale! Sizes Medium & XL are available from our T-Shirt page. https://harwichshantyfestival.co.uk/2021-shanty-t-shirts/
Closed: Photo Competition
We are running a photo competition, with a closing date of 31st March 2022. We want you to send us your photos of any HISF event. It doesn’t have to […]
Postponed: Christmas 2021 Murder Mystery Day
POSTPONED Unfortunately we have had to take the decision to postpone our Murder Mystery event. Apologies for the short notice but we have been watching the situation closely and felt […]
Johnson Girls Concert
The Johnson Girls from Connecticut weren’t able to make it to Harwich for our 2021 Festival so recorded a special 65 minute concert for us in two parts. We’ve now […]
ITV Anglia report on the 2021 Festival
Many thanks to Freya at ITV Anglia for the video.
2021 Festival
Our 2021 Festival features a rather special theme of the Mayflower. Most of you will know that the year 2020 was intended to be a celebration of the 400th Anniversary […]
Johnson Girls
Johnson Girls were all set to come to our 2020 Festival, representing the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts as part of our Mayflower celebrations. Travel uncertainties and increased costs make their […]
Kimbers Men
We are so pleased to welcome the talented Kimber’s Men back to our Festival this year. Their superb harmonies and great arrangements make them one of the most sought after […]
Shanty Jack
For the past 30 years or more, Shanty Jack (Pete Hayselden) has been a regular fixture at Shanty Festivals both in the UK and abroad. He spent a large part […]
Act Of Mutiny
Another first for us, Act of Mutiny hail from Leiden in the Netherlands, the town where many of the Pilgrims settled before making that historic crossing. The group has a […]
Ken Stephens
An accomplished concertina player, Ken sings sometimes solo and sometimes alongside Hans during the Festival programme. In addition, Ken is the author of many well known modern sea songs and […]
Old Gaffers
From the South Hams area of Devon, Old Gaffers are representing their nearby towns of Plymouth and Dartmouth. This is the Gaffers second visit to Harwich and their previous performances […]
Swinging The Lead
Kentish band, Swinging the Lead join us once again with an ever expanding line up! They are regular singers on board the famous tea clipper, the Cutty Sark and also […]
Harwich Shanty Crew
The home town Shanty Crew of the festival was born out of a workshop run at a very early HISF. They now perform at many events both locally and further […]
Hans Weehuizen aka Dutch Uncle
Hans is a familiar face at HISF and indeed at many other festivals in the UK. Join Hans at one of his “Learn to Play the Bones” workshops, or catch […]
Silver Darlings
This all female crew from the Southend area made a great impression at our 2019 Festival and are set to do the same again as they join us in 2021. […]
Charlotte & Spong
Accompanied by fiddle, mandolin and concertina, Charlotte and Spong have an original take on many traditional shanties and also include some contemporary material in their varied sets. This year they […]
Naze Shanty Crew
Founders of the Harwich International Shanty Festival and enthusiastic promoters of maritime music, the Naze Shanty Crew are thrilled to be performing together again after their enforced rest. Veterans of […]
Hog Eye Men
London Shanty Crew the Hog Eye Men sing at events all over the Capital City. They also host a monthly sea song and shanty session in central London and like […]
Motley Crew
Just along the coast in Brightlingsea, Motley Crew have been singing together now for a number of years and gained a loyal following for their entertaining performances. They are much […]
Mains’l Haul
A short trip down the Essex Coast to Maldon on the Blackwater Estuary finds the Shanty Crew Mains’l Haul. Formed in 2014, the group sing mainly unaccompanied, but also play […]
Salt Water & Beer
Also from Maldon, Salt Water & Beer have been singing together for a number of years. Originally singing for beer on Maldon Quay they now sing for beer at events […]
Sound Tradition
Sound Tradition sing in glorious four part harmony, anything from gentle lilting ballads to lively choruses. This is their second visit to Harwich International Shanty Festival with their mainly maritime […]
Felix Stowaways
Felix Stowaways are a busy and popular Shanty Crew, performing at many local events and holding a successful annual “ShantyCafé” in their home town of Felixstowe. They have been singing […]
Capstan Full Strength
Capstan Full Strength are a six strong vocal harmony group who have sung songs of the sea, land and work since 1998. Their powerful ‘broadside’ of sound has been welcomed […]
Golden Rivets
Popular local group, the Golden Rivets will be performing for us again at the Shanty Festival this year. Accompanied by a variety of instruments they play and sing a lively, […]
Malcolm Ward
An inveterate singer of shanties and folk songs, Malcolm has been performing at clubs and festivals for many years. With a melodious voice and sympathetic accompaniment on concertina, Malcolm joins […]
Pete Stockwell
Long time devotee of all things maritime, Pete has been singing sea songs and shanties for as long as any of us can remember and leads the shanty session at […]
Hoolies
This will be the second appearance for The Hoolies from Wivenhoe on the Colne Estuary. Now well established as part of the shanty community, they are in much demand locally […]
Hoy Boy
From our local waters of Essex, Hoy Boy (Peter Purnell) is a young(‘ish) enthusiastic acapella Sea Shanty Soloist with a passion for Maritime Folk Music. Specialising in rousing uplifting shanties […]
Pot Of Gold Shanty Crew
Now embarking on their 5th year together, Pot of Gold have gained an enviable reputation for singing traditional, and not so traditional, shanties and songs of the sea, in their […]
Telegraph Community Choir
Another London based group, Telegraph Community Choir will be visiting us for the second time this year. They recently celebrated their tenth anniversary and perform a wide range of singing […]
Rattlin’ Winches
Another home grown Harwich Town group, the Rattlin’ Winches have been singing together for several years now and are all keen exponents of the shanty tradition, performing at many local […]
Shotley Crue
Another crew formed directly as a result of the Harwich Shanty Festival, Shötley Crüe have now been singing together for nearly 6 years and have performed at a number of Festivals […]
ShantyFolk
ShantyFolk are a landlocked, acapella shanty group from the Lavenham area; they have been singing together since 2014 when, as members of a local choir, they sought to do ‘something […]
Isle ‘ave a Shanty
Isle ‘Ave A Shanty are a 6 piece shanty crew based on the Isle of Ely. They specialise in traditional songs from the sea and the country in a folk […]
Footnote
Apologies to the many Artists we were unable to host this year. I’m sure you all appreciate what a difficult year it has been for all aspects of the Arts […]
Artists for 2021
As you’ll no doubt realise we can’t announce any artists for our planned 2021 Festival yet! Once the year progresses and the health situation stabilises, then … news will appear […]
Amaury Villain
It is with shock and sadness that we report the death of Amaury Villain, whom many will remember as the Accordionist with Brise Glace, from Montreal, who went down a […]
Mayflower CD “The Harwich Ship”
Our Mayflower CD is currently out of stock The Harwich Ship In 2014 Harwich International Shanty Festival ran a very special project commissioning new songs to commemorate the town’s connections […]
2019 CD Out of Stock!
Out of stock Our 2019 Shanty Festival CD features 24 artists who played Harwich Sea Shanty Festival in 2019 See below for purchase options Back in 2019 we recorded some […]
RIP Jim Radford
We are saddened to hear of the passing of Jim Radford. He has been a stalwart supporter of HISF and a valued contributor to many concerts, workshops, talks and singarounds […]
Auction
We are holding our first online auction, the original artwork for our latest CD. Local talented artist Len Smith created an original acrylic painting to be used as the artwork […]
“In Dry Dock” CD
Currently out of stock Our lockdown shanty CD, In Dry Dock, is back in stock and available via this site priced £8 plus p&p. It features 22 artists who have […]