TWO shanty groups will perform at a supermarket this weekend as this year's Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival draws near.

Organisers of the event, which runs from June 14 to June 16, will be holding their annual fundraising day at Asda in Penryn on Saturday (June 8).

Volunteers will join shanty singers to entertain shoppers and bring some merriment to store.

Staff at the store are being encouraged to dress as pirates for the day, which starts at 11am, to get into the spirit, with the aim of beating last year's fundraising figure of £1,100.

The festival raises money for the RNLI and will see a total of 66 groups perform across the three days.

They will sing at venues across the town in pubs, cafes, hotels and shops and everything is free to attend.

For the first time there will be four main stages to watch acts perform on.

As per previous years there will be the stages at Events Square, The Moor and Custom House Quay.

This year they will be joined by the Falmouth Packet Stage at Prince of Wales Pier.

There will be more than 300 hours of entertainment in all and Fisherman's Friends, who hit the big screen earlier this year, will perform twice on the Saturday – once at Events Square and then at the Working Boat underneath the Greenbank Hotel.

A spokesman for the venue said: "We recommend arriving early to avoid disappointment."

The festival programme is now on sale for £5 from The Cornish Store in Arwenack Street and on the weekend itself will be available from the Festival Shops on Custom House Quay and Events Square.

Official festival merchandise, including the commemorative double CD, is also now available from the Cornish Store.

Organisers expect to exceed the 60,000 people who attended last year's festival.

The Packet will be publishing all of the key event details in next Wednesday's edition (June 12), including a map of the event, details on travel and parking and any late amendments to the programme.

For more information and to see the full list of groups visit www.falmouthseashanty.co.uk