The Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival has been hailed a huge success after it attracted the biggest crowds yet with an estimated 40,000 visitors descending on the town for the three-day event.

The weather was a mixed bag, with sunshine and rain, but that failed to deter people from turning out at the main stages, outdoor shanty stops, traditional venues and the sell-out Falmouth Packet Gala Concert - all in aid of the RNLI.

Organisers have thanked Skinners Brewery and Seasalt Clothing, as well as all of the other sponsors and advertisers, for their support, and also all volunteers and committee members for all their efforts and the hard work they put in to make the event such a success.

Betty Stogs, Skinners Brewery mascot, beat her goal of raising £5,000 for the RNLI, which is the most money raised yet, with still more to be counted. She raised £5,136 over the weekend, narrowly avoiding the swim in the harbour promised if she didn’t hit her target. The festival committee would like to thank each and every person who donated, collected, and helped to raise money to save lives at sea.

Betty said: “I’ve had a great time this year, as always, and the people of Falmouth (and beyond) have been so very giving. The festival is one of the biggest events for me, and I really enjoy meeting everyone and raising money for the Falmouth RNLI. An anonymous donor even placed a blank cheque in my bucket, in case I missed my target, which was absolutely amazing. I’m very happy that together we raised over £5,000, and saved my new hairdo from a soaking in the ocean!”

Town manager and chairman of the organising committee, Richard Gates said: “It takes an unbelievable amount of planning and hard work to ensure an event of this scale comes together as well as it has done. I would like to thank everyone who is involved and especially the festival committee. The money raised has been truly amazing and we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped with our fundraising. We will know the exact amount raised for the RNLI in the coming months."

For the first time, two group winners were announced for the Beat Betty Competition: The Pirates of St Piran and Shake a Leg. It was a remarkable year with shanty group Pirates of St Piran, who raised £1,714, and Shake a Leg were announced the individual winners, raising nearly £200 per member.

Steve Skinner, owner of Skinners Brewery, said "Skinner’s are so proud to be involved in this fantastic Cornish event for the 13th year running. We’d like to thank all the Falmouth pubs, singers and organisers for all their support and hard work to make this event such a success each year and of course Betty Stogs who simply loves this festival and looks forward to it many months in advance. We’re looking forward to 2017 already."

This year’s festival had something for everyone. Groups performed on main stages, in pubs, restaurants, shops and in the street. For the first, the TOSTA Cultural Cargo wowed visitors on Prince of Wales Pier with their schedule of cultural performances and activities based around Europe’s minority languages.

“It makes us really proud that we have been able to lend our support again to the shanty festival. Shanties are such an integral part of Cornwall’s maritime heritage and culture, and this is something we really value and that inspires our collections,” said Neil Chadwick, Seasalt Co-founder.