The eagerly anticipated Dart Music Festival (DMF) is set to return to the harbour town in May, with a new Sunday theme at the helm.

Following the great success of last year’s event, this year's festivities hope to wow visitors with an array of sea-shanty performances across for “Sea Shanty Sunday”.

In an online post, a spokesperson wrote: “Every year at Dart Music Festival, we aim to broaden the genres of music on offer and come up with something we haven’t tried before.

“This year, we’re “testing the waters” with a Sea Shanty Sunday. It makes perfect sense when we live by the sea to celebrate this musical genre.”

The weekend event, commencing on Friday, May 15, also offers a wide range of local music for visitors to enjoy in a variety of street and venue locations across the town.

Upcoming and established artists share the stages, with music ranging from rock and metal to jazz, soul and classical recitals.

For this year’s event, DMF has announced a ‘Night at the Musicals’ event.

DTC Youth Theatre will be taking the stage to showcase musical theatre performed by young talent from across the South Hams.

Jonathan Walker Gilland will also be performing his show ‘Broadway, Buble and Beyond’.

Originally from Memphis, Gilland has performed all over the world throughout his career before making Dartmouth his home.

As well as music, the festival is an advocate for local traders and businesses, with an ethos of avoiding “outside traders”.

Dart Music Festival, now in its 28th year, is run by volunteers and remains a free event. However, all musicians, sound technicians, security teams, etc., are paid.

As another way to manage these costs, DMF have official programmes and wristbands to buy, with the money raised going back into the festival.

“The festival costs us a lot of money to put on - over £100,000 this year, and it would be considerably more if so many people didn’t do so much for free,” a spokesperson said.

“To raise the money we need, we have a large amount of sponsorship from our amazing local sponsors - and we thank every single one of you and couldn’t do it without you.

“The rest of it comes from selling our programme and from shaking buckets at people when they are out and about enjoying the festival. We agree that this is a nuts business model, but it has worked for 28 years.”

DMF adds that, although a wristband does not offer any special treatment, it demonstrates that you are “part of the gang” and helping to continue the festival year after year.

Organisers encourage attendees to pre-order programmes and wristbands before the event.

“If you pre-order before 30 April, every penny goes to the festival,” the website states. “If you buy during the festival weekend, HMRC will take £4.17 from every wristband and £1 from every programme sale.”

For more information, contact Sam on 07966 271614.