Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival Draws 65,000 Visitors and Raises Record Funds for RNLI

Published On: 17 June 2025Last Updated: 17 June 2025By CornishStuff

21st Sea Shanty Festival sees record-breaking crowds and donations for RNLI

The 21st Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival drew more than 65,000 people to the Cornish port over the weekend, with donations for the RNLI already topping £21,300 — the highest total ever raised by the event.

Global crowds, local impact

Held across 27 venues in and around Falmouth, the free festival featured over 85 shanty groups from Cornwall, across the UK and abroad. Despite mixed weather, thousands turned out to sing, dance and soak up the maritime music from Friday through Sunday.

For the first time, a livestream feed from Events Square allowed fans around the world to tune in from home, while a brand-new stage at The Falmouth Hotel on Castle Beach added to the atmosphere along the seafront.

📷FALMOUTH, CORNWALL - JUNE 14TH 2025 : The 2025 Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival. Photographed by Hugh Hastings of Wonderland for Falmouth Town Council. Image features The Oggeymen at Princess Pavilion.

A Cornish celebration, worldwide appeal

The festival started in 2004 with just five groups performing at Custom House Quay. Now, it’s one of the world’s leading shanty events and the largest free nautical festival in Europe. The scale of this year’s celebration meant overnight accommodation was scarce not only in Falmouth but also in surrounding towns and villages, with businesses across the area seeing a welcome boost.

Festival Chair Richard Gates said, “Yet again, our brilliant community has surpassed itself with the 21st Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival. The turnout was no less than phenomenal… Thank you to everyone for their appreciated patience in getting into, and around, the town which was quite simply, packed, all weekend long.”

In the lead-up to the event, the organisers, a global music researcher and the director of the Institute of Cornish Studies described sea shanties as “the most accessible, inclusive and ageless form of performance music ever” — a statement the weekend’s packed performances helped reinforce.

Community, sponsorship and support

Louise Batty of Warrens Bakery, a silver sponsor of the festival, said: “We have over 160 years of baking heritage and the 21st Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival was an incredible showcase of Cornish culture, energy, hospitality and musical enthusiasm… We were delighted to support the weekend of shanties and sea air and are very pleased to hear that over £21,300 was raised for our vital Cornish RNLI colleagues.”

The organisers credited the success of the event to support from sponsors and partners including The Greenbank Hotel, Seasalt Cornwall, Warrens Bakery, Falmouth Town Council, Falmouth BID and South West Bars and Events, along with volunteers from the local community.

Donations for the RNLI, who have been saving lives at sea for over 200 years, are still being counted. To find out more about the festival, visit www.falmouthseashanty.co.uk.