THE city rocked to the sound of shanty singing this weekend as thousands enjoyed the most popular Maritime Festival yet. The excellent weather on Good Friday and Saturday brought people out on to St George's Quay to join in the celebration of the days when Lancaster was one of the country's foremost ports. And the festival - starring the country's leading sea songsters as well as puppeteers and performers - was supported right through to the final concert on Easter Monday which was a complete sell-out in the Dukes Studio.

Lancaster tourism chief David Wright was delighted with the response. He said: "It went exceptionally well. There was greater public interest than in other years and numbers at the Maritime Museum were up by a couple of hundred on last year.

"Things like the children's entertainment were very well supported and we have already had many people from afar telling us they are coming back again next year.

"We even had great difficulty in finding enough accommodation for people in the city centre because everywhere was so full."

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