Overview
The 2027 Festival will be held on May 14-16, 2027.
Participating venues will be:
- Captain Cook Museum
- Pannett Art Gallery
- Endeavour Inn
- Briggswath Methodist Chapel
Whitby Maritime & Shanty Festival, our annual sea song and shanty festival, is set in the old town of Whitby, the ideal place to celebrate our maritime heritage and hear music dating back to the days of sail. First established in 1994 as part of the Captain Cook Festival Celebrations in Whitby.
Announced 20 April 2026, “This year’s Whitby Maritime & Shanty Festival features sea songs and shanties at three venues. Firstly, the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, second, Pannett Art Gallery, and lastly, the famous Endeavour Inn.
The 2026 edition of this event will be held on May 16-17, with details available on the website. All admissions to the daily events are free. Saturday we will have a big night in the Briggswath Chapel Hall, Sleights of Whitby with an all-star line up.
Curated History
This event carries on the maritime music portion of the Whitby Fish & Ships Festival, which is no longer featuring that element. This new event was previously know as The Captain Cook Festival, and, later, the Whitby Sea Festival according to the organizer, Richard Grainger.
In 2025 this event was called the Whitby Shanty Festival. For a period of time (2014, 2017, 2019) this event went by the name Whitby Sea Festival and was simultaneously branded as "Whitby Ahoy". Before that (2006) it was called the Captain Cook Shanty Festival.
Details for the 2026 Whitby Maritime & Shanty Festival can be found here.
This event is partnered with the Great North Folk Festival.