The first fundraiser of the year for the 2018 International Sea Shanty Festival is to be held at the Watersports Centre in Falmouth on Saturday, January 27.

The musical entertainment will be provide by Falmouth's own The Oggymen along with the all-female acapella group, Moonshine, and Bryher's Boys.

The evening will start at 7.30pm and promises to be a repeat of last year's sell out, fun-filled extravaganza of great sea shanties and Cornish song. There will also be guest stars and a grand raffle. Tickets cost £8 and are available from the Watersports Centre or The Cornish Store in Arwenack Street.

This year will see the town host the 15th festival which is already shaping up to be another record breaker with a return of Fishermen's Friends after their forced absence in 2017 through health reasons. In all, 65 groups will be heading to Falmouth from all over Britain and Europe culminating in what will be one of the biggest free maritime music events anywhere in the world.

One of its organisers, John Warren,said: "The festival continues to grow both in size and popularity at a staggering rate. Unfortunately so do the costs of staging such a spectacular event and these now total around £40,000 per year.

It is therefore vital for us to hold regular fundraising evenings to ensure the festival's long term future."

The Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival will run from June 22 to 24 and is completely free to attend, except the ever popular Falmouth Packet Shanty Concert at the Princess Pavilion on the 23rd, which will again feature The Oggymen. Tickets are already on sale for this at £10.