Top names are lined up for Sea Shanty Festival

A total of 18 acts have now been confirmed for the Sea Shanty Festival, which takes place in Hull on July 23 and July 24. They include Owd Chyvers, singer songwriter Anna Shannon from Scarborough, Richard Grainger and Roaring Forties from Grimsby, as well as Wendy and Paul Arrowsmith and Shanty Jack.

Three venues – Ruscadors, the Minerva and Fruit on Humber Street near Hull’s Marina – stepped in after the city council withdrew £25,000 funding for the popular event. The acts will be appearing on two outdoor stages and for the first time there will be limited space for camper vans on the old Bonus Electrical site.

Hull-based musician Mick McGarry, a former merchant seaman who has been involved in the folk scene for 50 years, organised the line-up: “It’s a great line up; there will be the usual singarounds in the pub and we are organising a concert at Fruit which will be the only paid event.

“This is completely non-profit making and any monies raised will go in the pot for next year.”

The landlords have each put in £300, with a donation of £500 from city firm Dunston’s and £200 from Hull Bid, and have been promised another £5,000 from an as yet unnamed “public sector body”. A fundraising event is being held at the Portland Hotel on Thursday, May 12, at 7.30pm.

Ruscadors landlord Pete Smith said: “It’s imperative that we keep the festival going – it brings a lot of tourism into the city.

“We are on a tight budget but we are getting there.

“It has been hard going but I have had a lot of help from Kathryn Shillito at Hull Bid and Michelle Kidd at Hull Council’s Events Team, who have been very, very helpful.”