Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends

The Fisherman’s Friends are shanty singers from Port Isaac who have delighted visitors and locals there for more than 15 years, with almost 300 live performances under their belts.

There’s no gang leader, no choirmaster and no holds barred in the singing of The Fisherman’s Friends, and fisherman’s friends they truly are. Each and every member of this unique group are or have been fishermen, lifeboatmen and coastguards (as well as builders, artisans, hoteliers, and shop keepers) in Port Isaac.

They’ve known each other since childhood and learnt their powerful brand of Cornish harmony singing at the local Methodist chapel. Unusually for a singing group, each member will take the lead. At their regular Port Isaac summer sessions, they stand in a line and each leads a song, from one end of the line and back again, giving them a huge variety of sound and song. Drawing from a repertoire reaching back 200 years, and embracing songs and shanties not only from Cornwall but Liverpool, Ireland, Africa, the West Indian, and America.

English folk music has enjoyed a renaissance in the last decade, with Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends, the Shanty Man is back in business.

Be prepared to have your ears blown clean off…

Tickets: £23.50* Ticket prices are inclusive of a mandatory £2.00 booking fee.