NCC1583 Appointment of a Creative Team for Blyth Celebrates Festival of Energy

Description

Northumberland County Council wishes to appoint 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 £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. 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. The project is due to start in 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.