Entertainment services

Tender description

Derry City and Strabane District Council invites proposals from suitably qualified organisations to create, produce and deliver a large scale showcase event at the Foyle Maritime Festival 2020 on Friday 31st July. The Foyle Maritime Festival (FMF) is scheduled to take place from 29.7.2020 to 2.8.2020 and the showcase is one of the keynote events of the festival. In 2018 the showcase event attracted over 45 000 people to view the dramatic spectacle along the riverfront. Derry City and Strabane District Council will host the clipper round the world yacht race as part of the festival. As one of the designated ports for the race, the city will be transformed into an international marina with eleven yachts and race teams joining a range of visiting boats, Tall ships and visiting navy ships on the River Foyle for 5 days. The showcase is a dramatic spectacle that runs throughout all of the festival zones with performances both on and off the water as well as in the air, delivering a bespoke piece of landscape theatre. A number of ships and vessels will have been procured by Council for the festival and several of these will be available for the parade of light, which sees approximately 35-40 boats sailing on the river dressed with fairy lights. The festival team have worked closely with Foyle Port, the clipper race fleet and visiting boats during the last few festivals to help develop an on-water parade of light with all of the participating boats being lit up. It would be anticipated that the successful tenderer would include this element in any proposal for this tender. The showcase event will be themed around St Colmcille in acknowledgment of 2020 commencing a year of celebratory events, tours and trails that are set to take place until 2021 in acknowledgement of the 1 500 th anniversary of his birth. Organisations are invited to create their own interpretation of this theme, taking the fact that it is a maritime festival into consideration, to create a spectacle which should include but is not exclusive to the following: — title for showcase event and explanatory story featuring creative interpretation of Colmcille theme, — propose a variety of zones/areas where animation and performances can take place – this helps to manage the crowds attending so that everyone along the riverfront can see at least one performance connected to the event, — pyrotechnics, — parade of light on river for 35-40 boats/ships, — aerialists, — several of the following; moving performers/static performances/parade/dancers/flash mob/walkabout characters.