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 raucous, humorous and passionate delivery that will captivate, entertain and educate you.

The group hail from Lowestoft– a town boasting a rich cultural history in the tradition of seafarers; fishermen and sailors where men have earned a living (honest and otherwise) from the Sea since before the Middle Ages.

Following popular performances at last year’s festival, the group will be here for all three days this year – DON’T MISS THEM.

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 with acapella quartet The Witches Of Elswick and now enjoys doing so as a solo performer. She will also be treating us to some nautical tunes on fiddle and melodeon

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 in London but hold the East Anglian skies in their hearts and voices. This will be their first visit to Harwich and we look forward to hosting them.

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 on board Sailing Barge Victor. Full details in our programme. Don’t miss them.

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 take influence from a variety of musical genres. The band play an impressive variety of instruments, including guitar, banjo, mandolin, washboard, accordion and double bass and are well known at maritime events throughout Europe. They are looking forward to their first visit to Harwich.

Shep Woolley has been entertaining the crowds since performing at the local working men’s club as a young boy. Through Country & Western, Jazz, Skiffle and Rock’n’Roll he progressed to stand up comedy and a spell in the Royal Navy lent a nautical slant to his material. A professional musician of many years standing, Shep now combines an entertaining mix of comedy, monologues, sea songs and shanties for his maritime bookings. Don’t miss him!

Our first group from Finland, Tidens Brus in fact hail from the Aland Islands, between Finland and Sweden. Roughly translated “Aland” means “Land of Water” so it is hardly surprising that there is a tradition of singing songs of the sea. The four members of the group sing in harmony, sometimes accompanied by guitar, whistle and percussion.

From that well know seafaring county of Wiltshire, Friggitt have been performing maritime songs together since 2007. They entertain with a range of instruments and have appeared at a variety of sea and riverside events.

This will be Derek’s second visit to Harwich International Shanty Festival. Last time he came as part of the trio “Three Sheets to the Wind”, but in 2016 he appears in his own right. Derek has many years’ experience of singing folk and sea songs, has toured extensively and written several songs, some of which are so well absorbed into the folk tradition that others attribute them to that well known writer Anon.

Our first group from Belgium, Corsaires de la Vesdre are named after the River where they live, close to the borders with Germany and Holland. Their aim is to share their music with as wide an audience as possible and they love to sing outdoors in an authentic maritime setting. Catch them around the town this year.

Burning Glass are well-known local multi-instrumentalists Mick & Penny Verrier, accompanied by family and friends.

Billy & Kathleen are returning after an absence of a few years in order to enchant further audiences with amazing stories and to deliver a variety of workshops connected to our signalling theme for 2015. Be sure to attend the instructional Morse Code workshop, which will also help you to train your mind and listen out for Kathleen’s beguiling singing and artistry.

From Enkhuizen in the Netherlands these five singers  perform mainly Dutch and English Shanties, mostly acapella but occasionally accompanied by guitar, melodeon, concertina and bones. One of their members, Hans Weehuizen, will be running Bones Workshops during the weekend so pop along to find out how to play these traditional rhythm accompaniments.

Three voices (Liz Randall, Roger Resch and Derek Seed) sing all manner of sea songs to accordion, whistle, concertina & autoharp, with plenty of choruses. At the Harwich Shanty Festival Liz will once again be running her popular “Singing in Public” workshops.

Fresh from his triumphs at the Albert Hall for Remembrance Services, Jim, who is a regular at the Festival, will be hosting a special show with wartime reminiscences, interspersed with songs, some self penned. During the 2nd World War, Jim worked on the Rescue Tugs, which were based at Harwich and has previously hosted film shows about the Tug Service’s work.

Kaap Hoorn are old friends of ours and we are very pleased to be able to welcome them to the Harwich International Shanty Festival for the first time. 2015 sees them celebrating their 20th Anniversary and the trip to Harwich is part of their celebrations. The 30 strong choir sing in mainly 3 part harmony, accompanied by accordion, mandolin, guitar and violin. The choir come from the town of Hoorn in the Netherlands and of course the famous Cape Horn was named in 1616 by a Dutch explorer from their home town.

We are very pleased that Keith has been able to step into the breach and help us out at such short notice, due to Patrick Denain’s illness.

Keith has of course performed at Harwich Shanty Festival previously as one third of the group “Three Sheets to the Wind”, but he is also a respected performer in his own right, of both folk and sea songs. He is also one of the finest concertina players in the U.K. and a worthy addition to our 2015 Guest List.

Back to entertain us again, Gideon and Nigel will be making the long trek from the West Country to sing songs of the sea, both Cornish and otherwise. Kernow Buoys are one of our most popular acts. Watch them at one of their many appearances and you’ll find out why.

Trapped in the capital, far from the sea, the London Lubbers inflict their love of shanties, sea-songs and questionable humour upon local folk clubs. A shifting (and somewhat shifty) crew, they are delighted to voyage up the A12 to Harwich once again.

All the way from  St. Austell and keen to preserve the heritage of their native county, Press Gang sing tales of Cornwall and the sea with humour, harmonies and fun. Apart from a memorable “flash mob” appearance at Gatwick Airport, they rarely perform east of the Tamar, so we are privileged to welcome them to Harwich this October.

Our first group from Norway! And we are very pleased to welcome Riggerloftets to the old town of Harwich. They come from the oldest town in Norway and sing both English and Norwegian Shanties. They have travelled extensively and performed at many festivals at home and abroad.

Roaring Trowmen were a huge success at last year’s Harwich Shanty Festival and have been making waves at other festivals and events throughout the U.K. so we had to have them back. They mix musical excellence with on stage humour and personality and are an act not to be missed.

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 as the sailors did in days gone by. Their style of singing is as authentic as possible to the shanty singers of the past.

A Shanty and Folk band from the North Norfolk coast, the Old Wild Rovers started life some years ago over a few pints in a local pub. Since then they have organised and performed at many charity fundraising events and can proudly boast in excess of £165,000 raised for various good causes. They attended the festival last year in an unofficial capacity and we are very pleased to welcome them onto the Guest List for 2014.  

John Conolly found folk music, like a lot of people of his age at that time, through the skiffle route. He is another artist whose songs have been so far absorbed into the tradition that many refuse to believe John himself wrote them! Long time resident on the East Coast of England, many of John’s songs reflect the challenges presented on our treacherous shores.

When Vagrants Crew first attended the festival they were an instant hit so we knew we would have to have them back. Their music is lively and their enthusiasm and enjoyment catching, making everyone want to join in. In addition to our own festival, they will also be attending the Baltic Shanty Festival which co-incidentally this year is held in the home town of our Finnish group, Tidens Brus.