FLASHBACK to last year’s Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival, with a lively scene at Custom House Quay.

Cornwall’s Skinners Brewery has renewed its sponsorship of the world’s biggest free maritime music festival for another year.

Skinners has supported the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival ever since its inception in 2004.

The event has rapidly grown in scale and popularity and last year attracted some 350 singers from all over Britain and abroad and an aggregate audience of around 10,000, resulting in a £4,000 donation to the RNLI.

For the 2010 event, from June 18-20, all the singers will be regularly refreshed with the aid of 2,000 pints of beer supplied free as part of the sponsorship deal with Skinners, who will also pay for promotional posters and corporate clothing for the organisers.

“Many other maritime festivals around the world are in decline, but Skinners have been right behind us from day one and their continued support in these difficult economic times is a massive boost for everyone concerned,” said John Warren, spokesman for the Falmouth Shout group, who organise the festival.

FRENCH CONNECTION – Cherbourg Shanties perform at last year’s Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival.

Twenty groups have already confirmed their attendance – just three short of last year’s best-ever figure.

Skinners chief executive Steve Skinner commented: “If ever there was a success story to make Cornwall proud, this must be it. It has become a massive feature on the county’s events calendar and we are delighted and privileged to be involved. The mood and atmosphere generated by the singers is quite stunning and simply incomparable.”

According to Mr Warren, there will effectively be unbroken singing through the festival, with at least one group in action at some point, at one of the six locations, throughout the event’s active hours – from 6 pm to midnight on June 18, midday to midnight on the 19th and midday to 4 pm on the 20th.