Harwich International Shanty Festival

Welcome to Harwich International Shanty Festival. With a renewal of interest in Shanties and Sea songs, following a TikTok craze that overtook the internet during lockdown, the International Shanty Festival welcomed some new visitors to the website as well as new visitors who attended the festivals from 2021 to 2023. Over the weekend of the festival the entirety of the old seaport town within Harwich rang with the sound of shanties, music emanated from pubs, clubs, and many historic buildings. There will be street theatre sketches, maritime crafts, pirates, barge trips, walks, talks, and even workshops to offer. The town will be full of life and colour as visitors soak up the atmosphere created over this special weekend. Tickets Online advanced ticket sales close at 6:00pm on Wednesday the 11th of October. Event tickets from then will only be available from the Ha'Penny Pier Visitors Centre or at the door of the venue shortly before a ticketed event. It is important to note that a vast majority of events are free and not ticketed.