In total Poland hosts a staggering 20 shanty festivals every year, which certainly came as a surprise to me. This will be the 29th edition of this particular festival, which is certainly one of the biggest cultural events in Kraków at this time of year. The first staging, a regional event, took place in late February 1981 and included performances by 20 artists to audiences of about 100 in the cellar of one of the towns cultural centres - but how things have changed! Over the following 5 years it altered formula and name becoming the International Festival of Sailing Song. The line-ups now featured groups and singers from the Netherlands, England and Sweden. The Shanty Festival has twice hosted Stan Hugill. He was 'The Last Working Shantyman', serving on the Garthpool, the last British commercial sailing ship. Over the intervening years the festival has grown to become one of the most important shanty events in the world, mentioned alongside those in Liverpool, Karlskrona or Rotterdam. The fact that Kraków is 500km away from the sea doesn't deter 10 000 people regularly attending.
This year the performances will take place in 2 venues: the Rotunda Cultural Centre and the 'Stary Port' Tavern. The programme is as varied and exciting as you'd expect and looks like this.

CK Rotunda, ul. Oleandry 1, H-3

25.02  
19:00 To write a poem to sea - a shanty and ballad concert

26.02 
12:00 Sailing show for kids

18:00 Missing the Land - a forecastle song concert by Cztery Refy, Simon Spalding, Mechanicy Szanty, Bounding Main, Prawdziwe Perły, Ryczące Dwudziestki

23:00 Hey, I'll wake the waves - 25 years of Zejman i Garkumpel band

27.02 
11:00 Sailing show for kids

17:00 Missing the sea - sea tales concert by Atlantyda, Flash Creep, Piotr Zadrożny and band, Formacja, Banana Boat, Klang, Jerzy Porębski and Old Metropolitan Band
22:00 Boarding - a contemporary shanty song concert by Mietek Folk, Bounding Main, EKT Gdynia, Nor Folk, Mordewind, Mechanicy Shanty and Stara Kuźnia

28.02 
12:00 Grab the capstan - a classical shanty concert

17:30 Finale concert with Stare dzwony, Flash Creep, Waldek Mieczkowski, Ryczące Dwudziestki, Cztery Refy, Bounding Main, Simon Spalding, Capstan Full Strength, Mietek Folk, Mirosław Kowalewski
Stary Port , ul. Straszewskiego 27 (entrance from ul. Jabłonowskich ), B-3

24.02
19:30 New Orleans over the sea too -a concert by the Old Metropolitan Band and Jurek Porębski

25.02 - 27.02
23:00 Port Tales concerts

01.03
20:00  Foreign guests send-off