Notice Information
Notice Title
Appointment of a Creative Team for Blyth Celebrates Festival of Energy
Notice Description
Northumberland County Council has appointed a Creative Team that will design, create, produce and deliver a high profile and impactful inaugural Festival of Energy that will attract interest from a wide-ranging audience including local people of all ages, key partners in Blyth and the national / international arts and renewables / energy sectors. Northumberland County Council (NCC) were successful in attracting PS355,384 from North East Combined Authority (NECA) for a Festival of ENERGY in Blyth, taking place in February 2026 in partnership with ORE Catapult, Port of Blyth and Newcastle University.
Planning Information
Northumberland County Council (NCC) were successful in attracting £355,384 from North East Combined Authority (NECA) for a Festival of ENERGY in Blyth, taking place in February 2026 in partnership with ORE Catapult, Port of Blyth and Newcastle University. We are now inviting Expressions of Interest from exceptional and exciting creative events and festivals companies that have an excellent track record of delivering high quality events, from concept to every aspect of delivery. The Festival of ENERGY is a creative and artistic response to the globally recognised, innovation in renewables, taking place in Blyth, Northumberland. The Festival of ENERGY will offer a key highlight and finale event as part of Blyth Celebrates yearlong cultural programme. The four-day event and participatory programme will develop co-designed content with local communities, building new audiences and attracting visitors to the town securing Blyth as a new visitor destination for creativity and innovation and recognised as a world leader in the renewables sector, reflected in the vision of the Energising Blyth regeneration project. The Festival of ENERGY will deliver an expansive engagement programme from September - December 2025 to explore and delve into the significant renewables sector in Blyth to be showcased and profiled during an intensive long weekend (4 days) in February 2026. The Festival will deliver educational and experiential opportunities through talks, tours, film, interaction and spectacle. We want to demystify and showcase the industry, to capitalise on Blyth's unique economic strength to attract national audiences and support future investment and profile. NCC's procurement process is managed through a new portal called https://www.open-uk.org/ You will need to register on the OPEN portal to ensure you will be able to respond to this opportunity. The timelines currently for this project are outlined below (please note these are not confirmed and are subject to change): Invitation to Tender published - June 2025 Submission deadline for ITT responses - July 2025 Notification of Award - End July 2025 Contract Start - August/September 2025 Festival - late February 2026 The project is due to start in August / September 2025 with the 4-day Festival taking place in late February 2026. Where we hope to attract 10,000 people, engage with 500 local people and 25 volunteers over the project. Please note that this Market Engagement Document is not an invitation to tender, and you are under no obligation to complete it. This document does not form any requirement of an invitation to tender. The Council is issuing this request for information only. No supplier selection or supplier preference is implied. All responses will be treated confidentially and used solely to inform the Council's approach to the future commissioning of services. This Market Engagement document is to be returned to Northumberland County Council by Wednesday 28th May at 12 Noon via the OPEN Tender Portal https://www.open-uk.org/ 1. Market Engagement Questions Q1 Will the timescales outlined above be achievable? Q2 Please advise if you have any queries regarding the event. Q3 The tender documents will be published in June to be returned in July, do you intend to submit a bid? If not please detail your reason why not.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-051b78
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076038-2025
- Current Stage
- Award
- All Stages
- Planning, Tender, Award
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK7 - Contract Details Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Open
- Procurement Method Details
- Open procedure
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- SME
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
-
- CPV Codes
79952000 - Event services
79953000 - Festival organisation services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £355,000 £100K-£500K
- Lots Value
- £355,000 £100K-£500K
- Awards Value
- £355,384 £100K-£500K
- Contracts Value
- £355,384 £100K-£500K
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 21 Nov 20253 months ago
- Submission Deadline
- 11 Jul 2025Expired
- Future Notice Date
- 28 May 2025Expired
- Award Date
- 27 Aug 20255 months ago
- Contract Period
- 27 Oct 2025 - 31 Mar 2026 1-6 months
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Complete
- Lots Status
- Complete
- Awards Status
- Active
- Contracts Status
- Active
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY COUNCIL
- Contact Name
- Mrs Teresa Skelly
- Contact Email
- teresa.skelly@northumberland.gov.uk
- Contact Phone
- Not specified
Buyer Location
- Locality
- MORPETH
- Postcode
- NE61 2EF
- Post Town
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLC North East (England)
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLC42 Northumberland
- Delivery Location
- TLC North East (England), TLC2 Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear
-
- Local Authority
- Northumberland
- Electoral Ward
- Morpeth Kirkhill
- Westminster Constituency
- North Northumberland
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076038-2025
21st November 2025 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051980-2025
28th August 2025 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/032624-2025
16th June 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024124-2025
21st May 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.
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