Albany International Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival
City of Albany, Western Australia, July 11–13, 2025

Rod Vervest is the long-time curator and program manager for the annual Albany International Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival, featuring over 100 performances. It’s a Maritime Festival because, as he says, “You cannot walk around Albany without thinking upon the sea.” So true, Albany’s ever-visible coastline is magnificent. This year the Festival’s theme is “Scottish.”

Even before I got to Albany, I met one of the performing artists on the 9am coach from East Perth. She was exhibiting another talent — knitting an astonishingly beautiful and intricate Fair Isle jumper in soft Scottish wool. She was one of many multi-talented Scottish (born or bred) artists one would be privileged to see during the Festival, along with their kilts.

Liz is a violinist in the community-based Scottish Stramash (meaning uproar), and it was uproar in the gracious, many-roomed Earl of Spencer pub where they played Celtic, shanty and folk songs. The pub was teeming with people trying to get a glimpse of this band of fifteen, playing fiddles, piano, tin whistles, bodhráns, and accordion. If they couldn’t see the musicians well, no matter — they could stand around, drink in hand, and listen in good company.

The shanties, mostly sung by strong, full-throated and engaging groups of men (Albany, Castaway, Salt Lake, Shipload, and South Sea Shantymen), were often about loneliness, left loves, mateship and hardship — revealing more of their feelings than men often give away in conversation. Sometimes they brought tears to the eyes. One song, Anderson’s Coast, sung by The Stranded Whalers from Tasmania, had the heartbreaking refrain:

Annie, dear, don’t wait for me,
I fear I will not return to thee
There is nought to do but endure my fate
And watch the moon, the lonely moon,
Light the breakers on wild Bass Strait.

Shantymen also bantered and told jokes, including the directive that Gaelic in Scottish is pronounced ‘Garlik‘. Sometimes you weren’t sure when they were pulling your leg.

Amongst some of the myriad solo, duo, and bands playing folk and Celtic songs that stood out was the string quartet Signs of Four (Jude Iddison, Shenzo Gregorio, Daniel Driebert and Mardae Selepak), who in an intimate sojourn at Wilson Brew Co pub created unique harmonies, sometimes with non-traditional instruments.

The duo Josephine and Eddie Jay were spellbinding. The beautiful-voiced Josephine sang and played the violin in harmony with Eddie (an instrument maker), who played a handsome self-made gold-decorated accordion and a black concertina he’d printed out. The haunting songs were of Celtic and European origin and echoed in the retired ambience of white-walled Wesley Church.

Not at all peaceful but foot-stomping, wonderful and hilarious was the five-piece folk group The Spirit of Alba, playing Celtic songs and everlasting reels featuring fiddle, guitar, keys, accordion, whistle and border pipes — the players of which seemed to be kept sizzling by the splendid energy of the multi-talented fiddler Fiona Davidson. They had the audience cheering and singing and stunned by their exuberance.

After, and again not a whit peaceful, the Town Hall saw that self-same audience up and folk dancing with the eight-piece Callus Ceilidh band playing highland pipes, fiddles, electric guitar and drums with a rock twist. They kept a huge motley section of the audience dancing with joyous abandonment. It was great fun.

This year’s Festival was fantastic. Oh, and if you can’t wait for next year’s — many of these groups perform around WA, at Clancy’s for instance.

Go find them.

The Albany International Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival ran from 11–13 July 2025.
For more information, visit: https://albanyfolknshantyfest.com