A few weeks ago we talked about ‘mystery of Pedralbes’ and how amazed we are with this express contest opened by Economia to organize the festival, not starting in 2024, but this summer.
Emergencies that will give the successful promoter a very short margin to put together a solvent poster (at the height of the sample as we know it) and to consummate not minor details, such as selling tickets. Well, the astonishing aspects of this tender, to which four companies are presenting and which must be resolved this week, do not end here.
The most spectacular, that of the award criteria, which award up to 50 points (50% of the total) to the economic offer. The canon for occupation of the gardens is €458,055 for three editions. “Improvable upwards & rdquor ;, specifies the announcement, when, in reality, improving it is not an option, but an imperative to have at least a chance, since in annex 1 it is added, very poetically, that “economic proposals that do not improve the minimum fee for three years will obtain 0 points & rdquor ;.
The other 50% is broken down into a dozen criteria related to programming (whoever proposes the most resident artists in Catalonia and in Catalan will get 20 points; the commitment to female figures is rewarded with 5) and aspects of an artistic nature: variety of styles , presentation of new works, innovation and risk…
A private festival in a public space
We are talking about an auditorium with 2,400 seats that should be filled. Pedralbes is held in a public space, but the festival is private: Is it necessary to impose on a developer (who will already pay, and not a little, for the occupation of the space) conditions that could compromise the profitability of his project?
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Given the criteria, it is enough for a wealthy company, even an investment fund, to put a wad of bills on the table and copy the last Canet Rock sign so that it can take over Pedralbes. The experience in setting up festivals (this or any other) does not appear among the evaluation scales. Zero points. The questions are pertinent: Why is this tender raised to favor the most opulent company? Is there any motivation to remove your current organizer from Pedralbes?
The impression is that the festival is not treated as a cultural event but as a source of collection and you wonder what the ‘Department’ of Culture says to all this. Because if he has intervened in this consecration of the power of the checkbook, it is disturbing. And if he has not done it because he has been left out of the process, perhaps it is even worse.