00:00Why do tens of thousands flock to England's Cornish coast every year?
00:07Many brandishing the finest seafaring costumes this side of the seven seas.
00:13This is the International Sea Shanty Festival in Falmouth,
00:16where traditional music sing a modern revival.
00:23Not so long ago, sea shanties would have been considered a niche musical interest.
00:28Now, these maritime medleys are seeing an explosion in popularity.
00:32I did not like her tail.
00:35It's just happy.
00:36In terms of you can join her, it's a good atmosphere of your feeling.
00:41Even if you don't know the words, you're just going to be jangling along and banging the
00:46saber or whatever, but it's just a really good one.
00:48Gets people up.
00:51The popularity of sea shanties is in part down to the catchy Wellerman song,
00:55which caught the attention of Gen Z and went viral across the world.
01:01Historically, sea shanties were sung by men on ships,
01:04the rhythmic call-and-response lyrics motivating sailors at work.
01:08Here at the festival, new performers are further shaking up the genre,
01:16with all-female group Femme de la Mer helping bring this centuries-old art form into the 21st century.
01:22They're now leading the mission to inject women's stories into sea shanties.
01:28I really realised that women aren't represented in this music.
01:32They either aren't mentioned at all, or they're always mentioned in a very demeaned way.
01:37For my teenage girls growing up, I didn't want them singing that.
01:40So that was when I set out on my own personal project of researching Cornish women
01:44and writing new sea shanties, where the Cornish woman is the hero of the story.
01:49Dolly Pentreath was a mouse-old maid...
01:52Group founder Clare now tells stories of women like Dolly Pentreath,
01:56a Cornish fishwife who claimed to be the last person
02:00to speak fluent Cornish as her native language.
02:03I think some of the male groups were sceptical about,
02:08well, why would we want to sing about women?
02:10What have they ever done in the maritime industry?
02:12And women used to build ships and all sorts.
02:14They've always been part of the industry,
02:17but as with all women's history, it's not documented.
02:20I guess that's why I feel so passionate about readdressing that balance.
02:24Also putting a modern spin on traditional songs are Ksenia.
02:28Olly, just 16, is the third generation in his family to sing sea shanties.
02:32Rolling up and rolling down
02:39As the youngest group at the festival,
02:42they're keen to prove sea shanties are a folk art fit for the future.
02:46So I need four hours to turn around
02:49Rolling down the river
02:52For me, it's quite a lot about keeping the traditions alive
02:55and I feel like if we don't do it, then they will get lost.
02:59And not just us, but people in general,
03:01like our age, if they don't carry on the traditions,
03:04they will be lost, then I feel like that would be a real shame.
03:07Rest like melanin
03:08Sweet as a mango
03:10For sea shanty group Rum and Shrub,
03:12who've been performing since the 90s,
03:14seeing new groups put their spin on the genre has been a joy,
03:17as has its newfound popularity.
03:20We started singing, I think, to an audience of two men and a dog,
03:24but it might have been the other way around.
03:25It wasn't very busy, but it is now.
03:28And I'm astonished that it's been embraced so heartily,
03:32but it is, and we're all the better for it.
03:39This revival of traditional folk music is an unexpected success story,
03:44as new artists share their modern spin on an art form passed from generation to generation.
03:49These new groups putting a 21st century twist on sea shanties for generations to come.
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