Penang heritage body hunts for agency to manage George Town Festival

Penang's cultural board, George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI), is on the hunt for qualified parties to curate, manage, and execute George Town Festival 2021 and 2022. According to the RFP seen by A+M, the appointed party is responsible for managing the execution of all aspects of George Town Festival 2021 and 2022, including concept development, planning, programming, budget management, and promotional strategy, with RM3 million allocated for each fiscal year.

The contract is for a period of two years and the evaluation of proposals will be conducted by a panel of evaluation approved by the board of directors of GTWHI. The briefing is scheduled for Friday, 4 October, 3pm at the George Town World Heritage Incorporated office. The closing date for submission of proposals is Thursday, 31 October and the selected contractor will be announced in January 2020. The awarded proposer will report to the GM of GTWHI who is responsible to the board of directors of GTWHI.

Among the list of duties include creating an overall strategy for revenue, sponsorship and donation from other parties; oversee advertising, marketing and outreach campaigns; developing, managing and executing the festival's logistics masterplan and timeline; create, manage and reconcile festival budgets, expenses and timelines; leading and managing festival project teams in the planning and implementation of the festival; building, managing and maintaining relationships with the communities, artists, vendors and venue providers; direct and manage on-site festival set up and clean-up; as well as manage and execute festival debrief.

According to the RFP, the project fee shall be expensed strictly for the programming of George Town Festival. Staff costs, assets, and other administrative related matters shall come under "Operating Expenses" not larger than 5% of total compensation.

The overall conduct of George Town Festival 2021 and 2022 shall be evaluated and assessed annual based on the following key performance indicators:

1. Reach a PR value of at least RM30 million for each festival;
2. Increase social media reach on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube by at least 10% on each channel for each festival;
3. Organise 60% of the events within the George Town World Heritage Site;
4. Maintain 60% of the festival events as free-to-attend events;
5. Achieve at least 60% of attendance at ticketed events;
6. Achieve a minimum of 50% of Malaysian performers;
7. Consist of at least 60% of vendors and suppliers that are from Penang;
8. Maintain a minimum of 80 events to be showcased during the duration of the festival.

Inaugurated in 2010, The George Town Festival has been an important platform in celebrating the safeguarding of the Outstanding Universal Value of George Town. GTWHI is also the site manager of the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The George Town Festival is scheduled to be executed in the month of July for at least two consecutive weeks or 14 days. The festival's objectives are to celebrate George Town as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its Outstanding Universal Value; and promote the arts, culture and heritage through an international festival of the highest standards, featuring local and international performances. It also aims to advance the format of arts and heritage education; as well as instill an appreciate for the role of arts, culture and heritage in George Town.

(Photo courtesy: 123RF)