An island band is set to celebrate its 20th year of performing with a gig at Laxey Institute this weekend.

‘The Shenanigans’ are a rip-roaring folk band that specialise in trad Irish, Manx songs, rollicking ribald ballads and a variety of sing-along type songs.

They were formed in 2005 to provide a one-off performance at Laxey Sailing Club for a St Patrick’s Day celebration, but the ‘resounding’ success of the night meant that they stayed together and have performed at gigs island-wide ever since.

The band now consists of six members - Alan Gelling, Andy Parkins, Eric Maggs, Andrew Holmes, Norman Quayle and Martyn Perkins.

A spokesperson from the band commented: ‘You may have come across us performing at a number of annual events such as The Groudle Clifftop concerts, the Royal Show and the Parish Walk.

‘We pride ourselves in the fact that we actually got featured in a 15-second clip on Sky Sports when the Parish Walk was featured!

‘Over the years, the band have had many memorable moments. A WWW (worldwide wander) took us to Warrington, Widnes and Wigan on a whistle stop tour of the north-west of the UK, which culminated in a performance at the River Weaver Steam Fair.’

In 2007, the band completed a 100-pub gig around the island playing in every pub within a 12-hour period, which raised money for the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

The spokesperson added: ‘Over the years, the band’s personnel has changed a bit but three of the original members are still performing.

‘We find it hard to believe that after all this time we are still in demand!’

The upcoming gig will take place at the Laxey Institute this Friday, March 14 at 7.30pm, and tickets can be purchased from Laxey Chemist.