All the way from the USA, Johnson Girls are the foremost all woman acapella maritime group in the world and have been singing together for over 20 years now. Rousing […]
Festival Team
Doggerland
Powerful singing, innovative arrangements and unusual instrumentation all make up the unique sound of Doggerland who combine the traditions of England and Scandinavia in their shanties and ballads.
Act Of Mutiny
As part of HISF participation in and support for the Mayflower 400 Anniversary, we are very pleased to be inviting Sea Shanty groups from nearly all of the Mayflower towns. […]
Kimbers Men
We couldn’t do without Kimber’s Men at our extended Mayflower 400 Festival! The top UK Shanty Crew, popular all over the world and one of our most requested groups. And […]
Tyburn Road
Dave and Ian sing mainly maritime sets together as Tyburn Road and have become a regular fixture at HISF. With fine singing voices and often accompanied by the concertina they […]
Silver Darlings
Silver Darlings from Southend-on-Sea made a big impression at last year’s Festival and so we are very pleased to welcome them back for 2020. Their performances are lively and engaging […]
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 […]
Special Events
Visit our Special Events page for details of concerts, walks, quizzes, auctions and many more events that happen outside of the Shanty Festival.
Shanties On The Pier
Summer shanties on the Pier has produced a fantastic response this year resulting in the following groups volunteering their services at the following times. Do go along to see them […]
Room lets over festival weekend?
We’ve had an excellent response to our appeal for potential accommodation over the Shanty Festival weekend and have started a database of people offering and people requiring accommodation. However we […]
The Flyer is out!
The 2019 Flyers are just out and in the process of being distributed locally and then further afield. If you think you can help distribute any fliers in your area […]
Shanty accommodation?
With the current lack of accommodation in the town we are desperate to find beds for some of our performers. Are there any local residents amongst you who would be […]
Friends!
Friends of Harwich International Shanty Festival Our festival is very proud of its close ties with the local community and the loyal support of both local people and businesses […]
Festival Dates
We’re gearing up for the 2020 festival in October so please put 8-11 October into your diary/calendar/organiser 2020 is promising to be the biggest festival ever! 2020 is important as […]
Dan McKinnon
An engaging Nova Scotian performer with a glorious baritone voice, dextrous guitar work and intelligent, well-observed story-songs, Dan McKinnon’s performances bring alive the history and spirit of our collective past. […]
Old Gaffers
A performance from Old Gaffers from South Devon is always inclusive and engaging and delivered with their own brand of humour. During the 10 years of their existence they have […]
Hans Weehuizen
Hans is a regular performer at our Festival now and in addition to singing and playing concertina/melodeon he will be running his popular How to Play the Bones workshops again.
Hog Eye Men
The Hog Eye Men join us once again from London to sing authentic shanties in a traditional manner. All members of the Crew have long experience of traditional folk, particularly […]
Chris Roche
Chris was a founder member of The Shanty Crew back in 1976 and has a wealth of experience, both in singing shanties and sailing traditional tall ships. He also sings […]
Swinging the Lead
One of our popular regulars, Swinging the Lead join us once again, having now expanded into a six-piece band. Their repertoire includes both traditional, contemporary and self-penned songs and for […]
Charlotte & Spong
Tireless supporters of the Festival, Charlotte and Spong will be entertaining us over the weekend with their beautiful arrangements of sea songs and shanties, plus their very popular “Shanty Karaoke” […]
Impressed
Roger and Liz return to the festival with lively interpretations of maritime songs, often accompanied by accordion or whistle. They will also be running the very popular “Learn to Sing […]
Rum Old Boys
Rum Old Boys are from Woodbridge, just a short boat ride away up the River Deben. During their relatively short existence as a shanty crew they have clocked up an […]
Hoy Boy
Sailing in from Canvey Island in Essex, Hoy Boy (Peter Purnell) is a young enthusiastic acapella Sea Shanty Soloist with a passion for Maritime Folk Music. Specialising in rousing uplifting […]
Malcolm Ward & Pete Stockwell
Malcolm and Pete, both well established figures on the Kent Folk scene, will be performing together at HISF with a wide range of maritime songs often accompanied by banjo or […]
Snottledogs
The Snottledogs are a Margate based folk band born out of a love for performing uplifting, accessible and rollocking good songs. They sing with harmony and passion!
Happy Sam
Happy Sam are Graham and Nicky Schofield. Both have been heavily involved with the traditional folk scene for many years. Graham is well known as a fine singer with a […]
Salt Water & Beer
Another Essex crew from Maldon, Salt Water and Beer have been singing together for a number of years. They have performed at Harwich International Shanty Festival on several occasions and […]
Felix Stowaways
Visiting again from across the seas, well the Orwell, are popular local group Felix Stowaways, who are blessed with the catchiest group name that could be bestowed upon a crew […]
Motley Crew
From just along the Essex coast in Brightlingsea, Motley Crew are a very popular local group whose performances are always lively and robust. They perform at many local events and […]
Mains’l Haul
Mains’l Haul join us again from Maldon, a little further down the Essex Coast. They sing a lively mix of shanties and sea songs and welcome audience participation.
Harwich Shanty Crew
Formed from a workshop at our Festival back in 2010, Harwich Shanty Crew are now much in demand locally and perform regularly throughout the year at a number of local […]
Golden Rivets
A home-grown Harwich group, the Golden Rivets have been performing together for many years. Their performances are upbeat and inclusive.
Rattlin’ Winches
Local Buoys, sorry boys, Ben, Len and Roy must be the hardest working shanty singers at the Festival this year as they perform with 3 other shanty groups as well. […]
Naze Shanty Crew
Naze Shanty Crew founded the Harwich International Shanty Festival after casting envious glances across the bay from Walton-on-the-Naze. Now none of them live in Walton, but they keep the name […]
Kimbers Men Workshop & Concert
What a great day! Many many thanks to Kimbers Men for coming to Harwich for this event, as well as the many workshop participants and concert goers.
Shanty Auction
Thanks to all those who attended, bid, provided Lots and generally had a good time at the Auction. We raised just over £1,000, had an enjoyable evening and now have […]
Treasure Hunt 28th Dec!
Our popular Annual Treasure Hunt was on Friday 28th December starting as usual at the Alma. It’s always a great way to fill the sometimes dead period between Christmas and […]
Becky Graham
Becky is the daughter of festival stalwart Pete Stockwell and is proud to carry on the tradition of singing songs of the sea. She has performed all over the country […]
Carapata
Four singers and musicians from France singing traditional songs of sea and river, Carapata combine the talents of Bérengère Le Cain, Emmanuel Pariselle, Séverin Valière and Miguel Biard (whom some […]
Alan Whitbread
We’re always pleased to welcome Alan back to Harwich. His performances are lively, inclusive and entertaining and make the shanties come alive. Singing sometimes unaccompanied, sometimes with concertina, Alan will […]
Exmouth Shanty Men
Devon’s “original buoy band”, The Exmouth Shanty Men, formed in 2007 to breathe new life into the maritime heritage of their home port, but have since found themselves in ports […]
Mollyhawks
John and Sue Griffiths have been singing together for 30 years as a duo, a trio and as Mollyhawks, originally a nine piece outfit, since 1996. As well as organising […]
New Scorpion Band
One of the most entertaining and original groups in British traditional music, the New Scorpion Band will be appearing at Harwich International Shanty Festival this year with one of their […]
Norfolk Broads
The Norfolk Broads are a 4-piece female ensemble who enjoy singing low-pitched sea shanties and folk songs in close harmony. Born in Norfolk, formed in Cornwall, they live and sing […]
Baggyrinkle
Baggyrinkle Swansea Shantymen have been singing together for 25 years now. Coming from all walks of life, the current line-up consists of up to 7 singing men and one female […]
Brise-Glace
Brise-Glace (Icebreaker) is a band of 4 French Canadian musicians/singers playing accordion, banjo, guitar, bodhran and washboard. They sing maritime folk from Quebec, the Canadian Maritimes, Brittany and North America […]
Stork Ejlaender
Danish Shanty Crew Stork Ejlaender come from the island of Fano off the Danish coast. They call themselves after the storks which return to the island for the winter, just […]
Portsmouth Shanty Men
From another premier maritime town, Portsmouth Shanty Men have been singing together since the 1970s, although the line up has changed over the years. Much respected for their harmonies and […]
The Forebitter Men
The Forebitter Men from Leeuwarden in the Netherlands will be making their second visit to the U.K. this year as they also performed at the Shantycafé in Felixstowe, back in […]
Sloop Groggy Dogs
The Sloop Groggy Dogs have been singing songs of adventure and the seas since 2011. From landlocked Milton Keynes, they do their best to bring a taste of more exciting […]
Rogue Shanty Buoys
The Rogue Shanty Buoys are an energetic acapella sea shanties group. They sing authentic sea shanties and songs, their own original songs and “shantyfied” versions of contemporary songs with a […]
Scheepsfolk
Scheepsfolk are a four piece maritime folk band from the west coast of the Netherlands. Singing and playing both new and traditional songs, their performances are full of energy and […]
Pete McClelland
Pete McClelland appears at the Festival for the first time singing songs of sea, coast, fishing, rivers and all things watery. With an engaging mixture of traditional, contemporary and self- […]
Slow Loris
We are delighted to welcome Slow Loris back to the Festival again (2018). Always extremely popular in our music venues, Slow Loris will also be performing the Friday night show […]
Sheringham Shantymen
Sheringham Shantymen have been singing together since 1990, still with some of the original personnel. During that time they have entertained over 1000 audiences both at home and abroad. They […]
North Cape
North Cape have been singing acapella shanties and sea songs in harmony since 1995. They perform all over their native Poland and have won prizes at several national competitions. This […]
Geoff Higginbottom
Geoff Higginbottom has been singing Sea Shanties since the day he first went paddling at Blackpool. As well as singing shanties, he has a vast amount of knowledge on the […]
Grietje Sprot
We are delighted to welcome Grietje Sprot back to the festival after they made such an impression last year. Coming from Hindeloopen, an ancient harbour town in Friesland, Netherlands, members […]
Inner State Theatre
Inner State are now a familiar sight at our festivals. This year Andy and Christine will be Inner State as Hilda and Erik, Viking Invaders, up at the Redoubt Fort […]