A small music festival in a quiet corner of the West Country is ripping up the rule-book on shanty festivals and putting the community and genuine local culture centre-stage. Saltash Songs & Shanties Festival launched in 2022 as part of a project to help bring joy and culture back to five Cornish towns that were recovering from the Covid pandemic. Determined to improve on the increasingly samey, tourist-orientated model of music Festivals in other Cornish seaside towns, the Saltash Songs & Shanties programme takes risks with contemporary music, includes workshops and opportunities to join in and collaborates with organisations from the community. Superb professional performers share stages equally with musicians from the region’s rich amateur music scene. The result is a festival truly inspired by the local people, culture and environment, that defies expectations and both challenges and entertains audiences.
Festival producer Lindsay Endean says “Music in this region is diverse and constantly changing. Even sea shanties have developed from pirates and fishing to celebrating feminism and local LGBTQ+ communities. The modern shanty scene is full of surprises. There is also a huge tradition of local music making in towns and villages across the county and an equal appetite from audiences to hear home-grown talent as much as visiting artists. We are constantly surprised by the fearless nature of our audiences – one of our most popular events last year was a concert of contemporary music inspired by local horse riders.
Highlights of this year’s programme (18-25 June) include a performance of handpan music for swimmers at the recently-saved-from-closure local pool, an evening celebrating women in the Cornish rock scene, and a programme of music by Cornish composer Judy Whitlock which is inspired by the night sky and features brass players from internationally renowned orchestras.
Having fun with friends and family is also central to the Festival’s ethos and there will be opportunities to have a go on the award-winning Town Band’s instruments, a street piano to play on the waterfront and an invasion of renaissance Spanish music into a house once lived in by Sir Francis Drake’s wife.
Several acclaimed shanty and folk-music groups also feature, including the hugely popular Barrett’s Privateers, Femmes de la Mer, who celebrate the stories of Cornwall’s women and Plymouth/Saltash group Windjammer who have recently released a highly original and beautiful album produced by Sean Lakeman.
Tickets are sold with pay-what-you-feel options, keeping events accessible to all. All events take place in historic buildings around Saltash. The Festival has been made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England through its open access National Lottery Project Grants, FEAST Cornwall, Cornwall County Council and Saltash Town Council.
Full events listings and tickets for Saltash Songs & Shanties Festival are available at:
www.songsandshanties.co.uk
Events and Musicians Performing:
Sunday 18 June, 3pm
Livewire Youth Music
Girls Rock workshop
Join The Eyelids, a 4 piece all female, double-bass driven, garage rock band from Cornwall, for a fun workshop in all things rock.
Sunday 18 June, 7pm
Livewire Youth Music
The Eyelids + support
The queens of the burgeoning Cornish rock scene bring their potent brew of garage, blues and punk to
Saltash for a night celebrating women who rock.
Wednesday 21 June, 6.30pm
Isambard House
Blow Your Own Trumpet
Saltash Town Band invite you to have a go on their brass instruments.
Wednesday 21 June, 8pm
Isambard House
Film: Son of Cornwall
The moving biopic of John Treleaven, who left his home in Cornwall to become an international opera
star.
Thursday 22 June, 7pm
Saltash Swimming Pool
Water Music
Take a relaxing dip accompanied by lovely handpan music combining West African technique with Celtic
rhythms.
Friday 23 June, 10.15 & 11.15am
Saltash Library
Tipil: Music for little people
Family band Tipil perform a session of Cornish traditional and contemporary tunes, with opportunities
for mini-musicians to sing, dance and join in.
Friday 23 June, 7.30pm
Isambard House
Sea Shanty Workshop
Come an learn traditional and contemporary sea shanties.
Saturday 24 June, 11am & 12.15pm
Mary Newman’s Cottage
Temps Clar Ensemble
Music from medieval and renaissance Europe performed in full period costume.
Saturday 24 June, 1.30pm
Church of St Nicholas & St Faith
Barrett’s Privateers
Local shanty stars who blend male and female voices in lively and hugely entertaining performances.
Saturday 24 June, 3pm
Victoria Gardens
Saltash Town Band
The award-winning Saltash Town Band entertain with classics, jazz and contemporary favourites.
Saturday 24 June, 6pm
Church of St Nicholas & St Faith
Sirinu’s Songs for Saltash
A concert of beautiful ballads and tunes of the Tamar Valley and moors of East Cornwall, written in the
1960s an 70s and celebrating local stories, landmarks and characters.
Saturday 24 June, 8pm
Church of St Nicholas & St Faith
Music for the Night Sky
Abbey Brass Quintet are joined by Cornish musicians to perform music inspired by the night sky and
written by Judy Whitlock.
Sunday 25 June, 3pm
Saltash Waterfront
Pop-Up Piano Session
Local pianists take centre stage with the Festival’s street piano.
Sunday 25 June, 6pm
Saltash Social Club
Femmes de la Mer
A 15 strong group of women+, hailing from across Cornwall who share stories of inspirational Cornish
women and are passionate about singing traditional shanties and folk songs of the sea.
Sunday 25 June, 7.30pm
Saltash Social Club
Windjammer
An up-and-coming trio who blend self-penned songs and instrumentals with original versions of music
drawn from the best traditions of British folk. Their creative approach blends vocals, guitar, whistles,
accordion, synthesiser and percussion into beautiful and adventurous musical arrangements.