Cutty Sark Sea Shanty Festival

The Cutty Sark Sea Shanty Festival has been running annually since 2021, held in the unique venue of a 19th Century Tea Clipper in Greenwich, London.

The latest edition of the festival:

The Cutty Sark Sea Shanty Festival 2024.  Visit Cutty Sark for a fantastic day of sea shanty performances and workshops in celebration of the tea clipper’s 155th birthday on Saturday 23 November 2024 from 10:00 am until 4:30 pm.  Free with entry to ship.

The 2024 Festival included a number of multi-cultural events, reflecting the demographic of the area and giving a long-overdue view of the contribution of non-European nationals to the maritime trade. This included;

Lucas Vale school and Poetry Vs Colonialism

Students from Lucas Vale Primary in Deptford gave a performance of a Bengali river racing song and some sea shanties that they have re-written to tell some of the stories of the Lascars.  The pupils worked with Poetry Vs Colonialism artists Gouri Choudhury and Laila Sumpton to learn and craft these songs of the river and sea. Visitors were told to “Get ready to haul, heave and sing along!”

and

The Gouri Choudhury Band brought songs about the rivers of Bangladesh in Bengali and songs that explored the poetry of water.

Her Suraloy music school has been teaching Bangladeshi music to young people in London for many years, providing students with a strong foundation in South Asian Music. The school is designed to nurture talent and harness the healing power of music and promote “Harmony Through Generations”.

2022: Celebrating sea shanties : The spirit of unity on long voyages overseas

Sailors sang them in the spirit of unity on long voyages overseas, but sea shanties have been rising in popularity back on terra firma in recent years too. Ride that wave is Greenwich tea clipper Cutty Sark, which is hosting its second Sea Shanty Festival this weekend, writes Holly O’Mahony…

“We organised the first event last year when we realised that London was lacking a regular event celebrating this type of music,” explains Cutty Sark learning programmes manager Jo Knox. “We have always had shanty singers on board who are very popular amongst those who visit, so we thought why not invite more bands on board to explore the history and culture around traditional working songs and dedicate a whole day to the genre.”

The London Sea Shanty Collective is a confirmed headliner, promising to sing their own arrangements of traditional songs, updated to reflect modern life. Also performing are all-female group The Silver Darlings and a local primary school who will be breathing fresh life into age-old songs.

Audience participation is very welcome, too. “The London Sea Shanty Collective will be running a short workshop to prepare visitors for the traditional sing-along that ends every Sea Shanty Festival,” Jo confirms. As for those who want to make a day of it, “The ship will be open as normal with a few extra activities to enjoy and really get you into the sailor spirit, such as knot tying, sailor games and more!”

Royal Museums Greenwich comprises the Royal Observatory, Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum and Queen’s House. It is also home to The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre and the Caird Library and Archive.

Together they are dedicated to enriching people’s understanding of the sea, the exploration of space, and Britain’s role in world history.