Lulu heads to Stithians for second Fisherman’s Friends Festival

The first one sold out. Five thousand people a day packed into a field outside Stithians, many of them singing along to sea shanties under a giant big top.

So the Port Isaac band are doing it again. And this time they’ve asked Lulu.

Fisherman’s Friends Festival returns to Stithians Showground over the late May Bank Holiday weekend, from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 May 2027. Day and weekend tickets are on sale now.

📷The Fisherman's Friends

Lulu, The Bootleg Beatles and Fairport Convention

The Fisherman’s Friends will top and tail the bill themselves. Joining them is Lulu, whose career runs to more than six decades, along with Beatles tribute The Bootleg Beatles, folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention and Scottish fusion favourites Skerryvore.

There’s also a special collaboration between two traditional bands, Breabach from Scotland and Le Vent Du Nord from Canada.

Further down the bill are Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle, Katherine Priddy, and Devon duo Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman. Sea Song Sessions brings together Jon Boden, Seth Lakeman, Emily Portman, Ben Nicholls and Jack Rutter for one performance.

Cornwall gets its own corner too. Kernow King and Johnny Cowling are the weekend’s comperes, with the Porthleven Town Band, Kimber’s Men and a dance party from Brim Ceilidh Band.

📷Lulu

Who’s on when

The Main Stage sits inside the big top again. Here’s how the two main days break down.

Saturday

• Lulu
• The Bootleg Beatles
• Breabach and Le Vent Du Nord
• Sea Song Sessions (featuring Jon Boden, Seth Lakeman, Emily Portman, Ben Nicholls and Jack Rutter)
• Kimber’s Men
• Fisherman’s Friends (opening show)
• Kernow King

Sunday

• Fisherman’s Friends
• Fairport Convention
• Skerryvore
• Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle
• Katherine Priddy
• Porthleven Town Band
• Brim Ceilidh Band
• Johnny Cowling

📷The Bootleg Beatles

The Outdoor Bandstand and a shanty session for children

Away from the big top, the Outdoor Bandstand runs live sets from Friday through to Sunday. Party band Mad Dog McRea are on it, along with 3 Daft Monkeys, Geoff Lakeman’s Folk Sessions and Barrett’s Privateers.

The Fisherman’s Friends’ own families have a few surprises planned there as well.

Cornish collective ARTiculate will run an art tent all weekend, with maritime-themed lanterns, prints and collages to make. They’re also hosting Children’s Shanty Sessions.

“We never imagined quite how special it would feel”

Jeremy Brown of Fisherman’s Friends said the band had modest hopes for the first one.

“When we first talked about creating our own festival, we just hoped people would come and enjoy a great weekend in Cornwall. We never imagined quite how special it would feel seeing thousands of people singing together, making new friends and having such a good time.

“The support we received was incredible and we’re really excited to be doing it all again. We’ve put together another fantastic line-up and can’t wait to welcome everybody back to Stithians. Whether you were there last year or you’re joining us for the first time, there’ll be a warm Fisherman’s Friends welcome waiting for you all.”

The band have toured the UK for years and sung around the world, inspiring two films and a stage musical along the way. But home, among the landscapes and communities that shaped them, is where they would rather sing.

The Beautiful Days team is back on board

The festival is again being staged with David and Laura Farrow of DMF Music, who are behind Devon’s Beautiful Days Festival.

“There was something very special about the atmosphere at the first Fisherman’s Friends Festival,” they said.

“People came from all over the country, but it felt like a gathering of friends from start to finish. The band had a clear vision and audiences really connected with it. We’re delighted to be working together again and looking forward to building on what was a fantastic first year.”

Tickets, camping and glamping

Stithians Showground, near Penryn, is best known as the home of Cornwall’s largest annual one-day agricultural show.

You can come for a single day or stay the whole weekend. There are camping fields on site and glamping nearby, plus local food and drink, artisan traders and family activities running alongside the music.

Tickets are on sale now from the Fisherman’s Friends Festival website. Options include day and weekend tickets, camping, campervan and caravan passes, parking and glamping.

Who are the Fisherman’s Friends?

The line-up is lobster fisherman Jeremy Brown, author and shopkeeper Jon Cleave, campsite owner and engineer John “Lefty” Lethbridge, and builder John McDonnell, a Yorkshireman who visited Port Isaac more than 30 years ago and never left.

Alongside them are Padstow fisherman Jason Nicholas, filmmaker Toby Lobb, electrician Simon Biddick, and musicians Marcus Bonfanti and Simon Johnson.

They first got together to learn a few sea shanties in somebody’s living room. Fishermen and their friends, as they still describe themselves.