AS the Fisherman's Friends prepare to make their cinematic debut next week, excitement is building for the Falmouth festival where you can see them perform for free.

The group's journey from Port Isaac to becoming global stars has been turned into a feature film and the ever-popular singers will be performing once more at this year's Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival.

The Packet will again be media partners for the festival, bringing you the best coverage before, during and after the weekend of June 14 to June 16.

And, with three months to go, the event is shaping up – with 66 groups already confirmed to perform at more than 20 venues around the town.

The performers hail from all over the UK, as well as Spain, Holland, Brittany and Ireland.

And the real-life Fisherman's Friends will be performing twice for the first time on the Saturday.

More than 60,000 people are expected in town across the weekend and there are more announcements to come – including a big development for 2019.

As ever, the Falmouth Packet Shanty Concert will be taking place on the Saturday evening, this year at The Poly.

It is the only part of the weekend that requires a ticket, which can be bought for £15 at the venue or via thepoly.org

Tom Lewis, Les Marins Des Abers, The Molgoggers and Short Drag Roger will be on the bill.

One of the festival organisers, John Warren, said: "The festival is now in its 16th year and continues to grow in both size and popularity.

"It's now the largest festival of its kind anywhere and brings huge benefits to the town.

"There are a number of changes this year that we are excited about and we will be releasing details very shortly."

The event, which is sponsored by Skinners Brewery and Seasalt, will raise money for the RNLI.