The Gansey Gathering Sardine Festival: Acapella Song-Weaving Workshops
Schedule
Sat, 25 Apr, 2026 at 02:00 pm to Sat, 27 Jun, 2026 at 05:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
Plymouth Unitarian Church | Plymouth, EN
About this Event
Join Plymouth Community Choir as we create new songs for the festival!
On June 20th, Plymouth is hosting its very first Gansey Gathering Sardine Festival to celebrate Plymouth's coastal heritage and the traditional Gansey fishing jumper, organised by the The Conscious Sisters CIC. The event is part of a new, exciting four-part project funded by a grant of £64,490 from Arts Council England.
Inspired by the Janner Gansey—the traditional, hand-knitted fisherman’s jumper—and the story of the sardines that once sustained the city under siege from the Royalists, the sardine festival will honour Plymouth’s maritime past.
Plymouth Community Choir have been commissioned to create a new perforrmance for the festival, which will include a mix of traditional fishing and naval songs, knitting ditties, civil war protest anthems and some brand new songs created by the people of Plymouth.
About the workshops
Songweaving is about creating songs together, live and in the moment, collaborating with other singers and writers to make something entirely unique.
Using a combination of creative writing, circle singing and vocal improvisation techniques, we will create material for brand new a cappella songs to be sung at the festival.
Our choir leader Daisy Higman is an experienced composer, voice teacher and vocal improviser, and will guide the group with structured exercises to help unlock new ideas and ways of playing with the voice.
We will use recording devices to capture our ideas, so you don’t need to read or write music to participate – just a willingness to sing, experiment, take risks and collaborate! The aim is to create several short, easy harmony songs with 2-3 parts, that reflect the wider themes of the festival.
If you’d like to get involved and learn some new skills along the way, come along!
The sessions are free and open to all - current members, past members and the general public. You can attend either or both sessions, but places are limited so booking is essential.
For more infomation or if you have any questions about the workshops, please contact [email protected]
Where is it happening?
Plymouth Unitarian Church, Notte Street, Plymouth, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
