GUILDFORD will become a shanty town on Sunday, August 30 as two of WA’s best-known maritime singing groups face off in the final event of the 2026 Guildford Songfest.

The Lost Quays and the She Shants will bring the festival to a rousing close with a workshop and good-natured ‘shanty-off’ giving audience members the chance to learn the songs once used by sailors in the golden era of sail.

The showdown caps two days of singing across Guildford on August 29 and 30, with more than 40 choirs and 500 singers taking part in the ninth annual Songfest.

Both maritime groups will also conduct workshops on Saturday, introducing festival-goers to the rhythms, stories and call-and-response structure of sea shanties.

Fremantle-based male group The Lost Quays is a familiar presence on WA’s thriving folk and shanty circuit, while the nine-member, all-female She Shants formed 10 years ago as an impromptu response to the largely male tradition.

She Shants member Monica Lacey said the group first came together to perform at a shanty battle involving The Lost Quays and the Albany Shantymen at Fairbridge Festival.

“A lot of traditional shanties are quite awfully misogynistic, so we thought we might as well have a response ready for that,” she said.

Their first song, Twiddles, reversed the familiar idea of sailors having “a girl in every port”, imagining instead the women on shore having “a man on every ship”.

That playful reversal set the course for a repertoire that gives women a more active voice in maritime stories traditionally dominated by sailors and the sea.

“We aim to be entertaining. We don’t aim to be offensive,” Ms Lacey said.

“We can certainly be provocative and a bit subversive. That is part of our style.”

Alongside its humour, the group performs moving songs of longing, loss and life by the sea, with drums, whistle, clarinet, autoharp and ukulele adding colour to its vocal arrangements.

The weekend’s closing encounter with The Lost Quays promises harmonies, humour and perhaps a little friendly rivalry as the ninth Guildford Songfest reaches its finale.

Guildford Songfest not only showcases choirs, it is an opportunity to explore the historic buildings in Guildford.

For further information go to the Guildford Songfest website.