Albany International Folk’n Shanty Festival returns to take over the city on the last weekend in September

The Albany International Folk’n Shanty Festival is returning for its third year this month, promising a weekend of folk fun and hearty shanties from groups across the country.

From September 30-October 2, traditional sea shanties will echo through the heart of Albany during the free festival.

Events will be focused around four main venues — Six Degrees, the Earl of Spencer, the Albany Club and the Prem-ier Hotel, which has been dubbed the festival’s “shanty hub”.

The festival was first held in 2019, when it was headlined by UK group Kimber’s Men.

COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 event before it returned last year with performers from across Australia.

This year, the festival is being directed by former Perth Festival program manager and Fairbridge Festival artistic director Rod Vervest, above, who wants to build the event into a “major asset for Albany and the region”.

Mr Vervest has taken the reins from Gary “Grizz” Greenwald, founder of The Albany Shantymen.

He said the festival’s 2022 edition would celebrate the shanty tradition in a city with strong maritime heritage, with about eight shanty groups coming to Albany.

“Since The Albany Shantymen started, there’s been almost an eruption of shanty groups across the State,” he said.

“We’ve now got groups from Bunbury, from Geraldton, there’s groups from Denmark, some groups from inland WA where there’s places where there’s not even beaches.”

Performers will include the Mandurah Mariners, Denmark’s Salty Sea Dogs, Gerdalton’s Rum Jungle, the Bunbury Anchormen, and Melbourne-based Felonious Floyd.

The festival will also feature a range of folk performers, including interstate group 40 Degrees South and international offering A la Souche, who are based in Canada.

Mr Vervest said he hoped to shine more of a spotlight on the folk performers at this year’s festival.

There will be plenty of maritime fun during the festival, with a $15 poets’ breakfast from 8.30am-10.30am on the Saturday and Sunday morning at the Albany Club.

The Albany Shantymen will take on the Bunbury Anchormen in a tug of war contest at the Boatshed Markets at 10am on the Sunday.

The festival will culminate in the Shipload of Shanty event at the Premier Hotel on the Sunday from 9pm, when The Albany Shantymen will lead the crowd in a rousing singalong. For more information visit shantyfest.com.