A FUNDRAISING event ahead of next weekend's Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival raised a record amount of money on Saturday.

Shanty singers entertained shoppers at Asda in Penryn ahead of the festival, which begins on Friday and runs until next Sunday.

Store staff were encouraged to dress as pirates for the day and the aim was to beat last year's figure of £1,100.

Following Saturday's efforts, festival committee member John Warren said that a record £1,329 had been raised, adding: "Heartfelt thanks to all of the generous customers."

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.

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 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