The Fisherman’s Friends are lobster fisherman Jeremy Brown, author and shopkeeper Jon Cleave, campsite owner and engineer John ‘Lefty‘ Lethbridge, builder John McDonnell (a Yorkshireman who visited Port Isaac more than 30 years ago and never left), Padstow fisherman Jason Nicholas, filmmaker Toby Lobb, electrician Simon Biddick and two very talented musicians Marcus Bonfanti and Simon Johnson.
Through rough seas and calm, the band have remained exactly what they always were when they first got together to learn a few sea shanties in somebody’s living room – fishermen and their friends.
The desire to hold a special gathering close to home in Cornwall has been on the Fisherman’s Friends minds for some time. While still holding down their day jobs, the group regularly sell out venues across the UK and are bursting out of tents at local festivals. Huge crowds trying to squeeze into the tiny streets of Port Isaac has made it impossible to continue with performances on the harbour. After two films, Top 10 albums, a musical, a TV documentary and a book the next logical step was a bigger tent at their own festival!
The group are thrilled to announce that in 2026 they will be hosting their very own Fisherman’s Friends Festival celebrating Cornwall right in the heart of the Duchy. They are inviting fans old and new to join them for a feast of top class music, entertainment, friendship and fun over the Bank Holiday weekend (May 22-24) at Stithians Showground, near Penryn.
Tickets go on sale at 10am on Thursday, 19 June 2025.
A hearty holiday weekend of music and entertainment
in the group’s beloved Cornish homeland
The Fisherman’s Friends themselves will open and close an eclectic bill of superb artists and entertainers from near and far including the UK’s most popular pianist and bandleader Jools Holland OBE and his 20 piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra with special guest Roachford and guest vocalists, including Ruby Turner, the first lady of folk and Mercury Prize winner Kate Rusby, Scotland’s biggest Celtic band Skipinnish, County Clare trad legend Sharon Shannon, Westcountry folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Seth Lakeman, Stornoway’s folk rock trio Peat & Diesel, and Bristol-based sea shanty sensations The Longest Johns.
The Main Stage line-up is completed by the Porthleven Town Band, Falmouth singing group The Oggymen, the Cornish Splann Ceilidh Band, plus sets from Kernow King and Johnny Cowling, who will also compere.
Cornwall is embedded in the souls of the Fisherman’s Friends and the songs they sing. They revel in delivering rousing sets of shanties, ballads and feelgood choruses up and down the land, but there’s nothing they love more than singing for a crowd on their precious home turf, amid the natural beauty and rich traditions of the land they call home.
Jon Cleave, one of the founding members, said: “The Fisherman’s Friends are so excited to invite you, one and all, to their brand new festival down in the very heart of our wondrous county at Stithians, in what promises to be a Cornish occasion for all friends you’ve known for years and for all those you’ve yet to meet. We’ll see you all dreckly!”
To turn this bright idea into reality, the chaps have partnered with David and Laura Farrow of DMF Music, the team behind staging the perennially popular Beautiful Days festival held each August in Devon since 2003.
They said: “We’ve known the Fisherman’s Friends and their team for a long time and were delighted to be asked to get involved in the festival. It’s shaping up to be a great weekend!”
With camping and glamping on site, plus delicious local food, drink and crafts from artisan caterers and traders, and an independent bar, there are options for festival goers to immerse themselves in a whole weekend in the company of their favourite buoy band or simply dip in for a day.
May is often a beautiful month in Cornwall, with bluebells, cowslips, campions and sea pinks bursting out in a blaze of colour to herald the summer, but the Fishies have got things covered in case the weather turns by putting the main stage inside a huge, circus-style, open-sided Big Top tent. An Outdoor Bandstand will host more live music, talks and sessions, and Circo Rum Ba Ba will be inviting audiences to squeeze into the belly of an enormous inflatable Sperm Whale for performances of The Whale, exploring sea creatures and their battle to survive in an ocean full of rubbish.
Stithians Showground is best known as the venue for the annual summer Stithians Show, steeped in the tradition of Cornwall’s agricultural community, but it hosts a variety of other events through the year. Its central location and great on-site infrastructure and facilities made it the perfect choice for the festival.
Here’s the full Main Stage line-up:
SATURDAY
Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra with special guest Roachford and guest vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka
Kernow King
Seth Lakeman
Sharon Shannon
The Longest Johns
Porthleven Town Band
Fisherman’s Friends & Friends
SUNDAY
Fisherman’s Friends
Kate Rusby
Johnny Cowling
Skipinnish
Peat & Diesel
The Oggymen
Splann Ceilidh Band
Tickets for Fisherman’s Friends Festival go on sale at 10am on Thursday 19 June via the official website https://fishermansfriendsfestival.co.uk/
This includes day and weekend tickets, discounted tickets for children, day or weekend car parking, add-ons for camper vans and caravans and bell tents available for hire.
Keep up to date via Instagram www.instagram.com/fishermansfriendsfestival/
Facebook www.facebook.com/fishermansfriendsfestival
Or for further details visit https://fishermansfriendsfestival.co.uk
