We are now only three weeks away from the ever popular Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival which will see 61 groups entertain the crowds at over 20 venues dotted across the town.

The main stages will be the Seasalt stage on Custom House Quay, the Skinners stage on Events Square and the Seven Stars stage on The Moor, but there will also be numerous performances at smaller venues including pubs and hotels throughout the three day event.

Among those performing will be Toue Sabord from France who formed in 2003 and live in Blois, a picturesque old town situated in the Loire valley. In its present formation, Toue Sabord is composed of five musicians and singers who play different musical instruments including guitar, mandolin, bass, harmonica and percussion.

Their repertoire is composed of some traditional songs but also songs they have written themselves. All of them relate to the river Loire and the sea. The group is looking forward to returning to Falmouth for a second time.

evenings.They are all happy to return this year in Falmouth ,for the second time.

Hailing from this side of the channel, are Stuns’ls, a group made up of mainly Cornish pilot gig rowers who aspired to learn the songs which were sung in pubs after the races. They say: "With a varied background - from choir singers to those with a faint memory of singing primary school carols - we had a lot to learn at the beginning, and not just the songs. We have overcome various elements of public singing and must be doing OK with invitations to sing at weddings, fetes and festivals."

The group's name was picked from a sailing term they found in one of their earliest songs called Old Maui. Stunls (stud sails) are the square sails used on a full rigged tall ship during light winds. "We are definitely a light hearted bunch," they say. "Gathered together with an interest of singing in pubs for a chance of winning a free pint or pasty."

To find out all the up-do-date information on the festival, which starts with the gala concert at the Princess Pavilion on the evening of Friday, June 16, and runs through until the 18th, go to falmouthseashanty.co.uk. Money raised across the weekend will go to Falmouth RNLI's 150th anniversary appeal.