Shantymen in Brancaster bring entertainment over the weekend as festival returns for a second year

A sea shanty festival which returned to the North Norfolk coast for its second year this weekend raised thousands for charitable causes.

Brancaster Staithe Sea Shanty Festival Weekend started showcasing its ‘Shanty’ repertoire in a quest to keep the shanty songs alive.

The weekend consisted of 16 performing shanty groups from all over the country playing in five destinations at Brancaster and Burnham Deepdale.

The singing acts appeared at The Jolly Sailors, The White Horse, Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club, Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale Village Hall and St Mary’s Church in Burnham Deepdale.

This year, the event was helping to raise money for RNLI Hunstanton and Brancaster Coastwatch with collection buckets and a charity lottery arranged by The Jolly Sailors, where the top prize was dinner, bed and breakfast at one of the Anglian Country Inn establishments.

The festival raised a total of £2,245 for the causes.

The Facebook page for the festival wanted to give “thanks to all the groups, the venues and most importantly you all for coming to the second Brancaster Staithe Sea Shanty Festival”.

Next year’s date will be confirmed in October, but for now, the organisers and some of the acts are taking a couple of weeks rest.

The Brancaster Staithe Sea Shanty Festival setlist was as follows:

Nelson’s Shantymen

The Sheringham Shantymen

The Lowestoft Longshoremen

Blakeney Old Wild Rovers

The Motley Crew

Hoy Boy

The How Shanty Crew

Mains’l Haul Shanty Crew

Freddie’s Barnet

Swinging The Lead

Sloop Groggy Dogs

Fen Shanty Folk

ShantyFolk – Suffolk

Sirens at the Helm

Pot of Gold Shanty Crew

The Brave Marauders