Sea Shanty Festival 2024

Recently returned from international shanty festivals in France and Germany, the London Sea Shanty Collective continues to keep shanties and songs of the sea alive and relevant to today, arranging traditional songs, sometimes with a modern twist, and expanding the repertoire with their own compositions.

They sing at festivals and in national institutions, pubs, clubs, care homes, churches, cathedrals and on barges and ships. Plus, most notably in the case of the magnificent Cutty Sark, they sing under them too!

As a non-auditioning community choir, they're open to all and made up of women and men of all ages from around the world who are committed to social justice, equality, and the joy of singing.

Sonny Brazil is a folk singer and Squeeze Box player from the southeast of England. Raised in South East London and Brighton, Sonny dwells among the Bargee Traveller Community, living and playing music as they have for centuries on the inland waterways of England. 

Sonny lives entrenched in the world of English folk culture, working as a crew member on the Thames Sailing Barges and living on the canals. 

They are one of the founding members of the folk collective Goblin Band, described by leading folk singer Martin Carthy as "The band we've been waiting for".

The Gouri Choudhury Band brings songs about the rivers of Bangladesh in Bengali and songs that explore the poetry of water. 

Accomplished musician Gouri Choudhury was born into a musical family in Sylhet, Bangladesh and first started performing when she was just six years old. She has performed all over the world as well as at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Barbican Centre. Gouri has thirty five years experience in the music industry singing a diverse range of genres including folk, Tagore's poetry and contemporary music.