Short answer: Still to come in 2026: Port Isaac Shanty Weekend (3–4 October), Mevagissey Shanty Festival (16–18 October) and the St Ives Shanty Shout (late November) — all free to attend. Penzance and Boscastle events are also being shared locally; we're still confirming those.
The confirmed festivals
- Port Isaac Shanty Weekend — Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 October. Free, no tickets, eight venues across the village — the home of the Fisherman's Friends, singing again after a year off. Next up, so plan now.
- Mevagissey Shanty Festival — Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October, with a fundraising gala night on Thursday 15 October. Free performances across around 20 venues in Mevagissey and Pentewan, with a free shuttle bus between the two.
- St Ives Shanty Shout — late November (20–21 November in local listings). Free, in pubs, hotels and cafés around the town, and traditionally the last Cornish shanty weekend of the year.
Being shared, not yet confirmed
A Penzance sea shanty festival (9–10 October) and a Cobweb shanty festival in Boscastle (6–8 November) are circulating on local event pages. We haven't been able to confirm either with an organiser yet, so we're not listing details — check the venues directly before you travel, and we'll add both the moment we can verify them. (Boscastle's own shanty crew, the Cobweb Crew, is based at the Cobweb Inn.)
How Cornish shanty festivals work
- They're almost all free. The model is collecting buckets for local causes — give generously, it's what keeps them going.
- They're multi-venue. Groups rotate around pubs, halls, cafés and churches; you wander between them rather than sit in one place.
- They're small places getting busy. Parking is the hard bit. Arrive early, or come by bus or train where you can.
- Singing along is the point. Nobody minds if you don't know the words; everyone will by the third chorus.
Missed the summer ones?
The biggest of them all, Falmouth's International Sea Shanty Festival, runs in mid-June (12–14 June in 2026). And if you're after more autumn events, our Bonfire Night guide covers what comes next.
Programmes, venues and timings are the organisers' to change — check their official pages before you travel. Spotted something we've got wrong, or have details we're missing? Tell us and we'll fix it.
See the full Port Isaac guide, filtered by who's with you.
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