St Ives Shanty Shout 2026: What to Expect

Short answer: The St Ives Shanty Shout is a free, annual late-November weekend of shanty groups singing in pubs, hotels and cafés around St Ives — listed for 20–21 November in 2026. Friday evenings and Saturday afternoon into night, with donations to the Friends of the Edward Hain Centre.

The essentials

• When: late November — local listings give Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November 2026. Confirm on the official site before booking travel.
• Cost: free. Collections go to the Friends of the Edward Hain Centre, which supports health and wellbeing in St Ives.
• Timings: traditionally 7pm to 10pm on the Friday and 2pm to 11pm on the Saturday, with a handful of groups per venue.
• Official site: stivesshantyshout.co.uk.

What makes it special

The Shout began in 2016 with a small handful of groups singing in one pub, and has grown into the traditional last Cornish shanty weekend of the year — groups from across Cornwall and beyond come to catch up with friends before winter. The venues are pubs, hotels and cafés all within walking distance of each other, and the evenings end in informal "shouts": largely unplanned, and open to anyone who wants to sing.

How to do it

• Get in by train. A late-November Saturday in St Ives is no time to hunt for parking — park at St Erth and take the branch line. Our park and ride guide has the detail.
• Do the daytime, then the night. Galleries and a long lunch on Saturday (the rainy-day guide works for November too), then the music from mid-afternoon.
• Bring change for the buckets and layers for the walk between venues.

Around it

Stay over and start Saturday with breakfast before the crowds. More in the St Ives guide, and every other date is in our Cornwall shanty festivals roundup.

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.