RFP: Chinook Blast Strategic Planning Consultant
April 7, 2025
Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Strategic Planning Consultant to Evaluate and Recommend the Future Business Operating Model for Chinook Blast
1. Background
Chinook Blast (the ‘Festival’) is Calgary’s premier winter festival, growing significantly since its inception. With an increase in attendance of 15% in 2024 and over $15.7 million in economic impact, the Festival has proven its value to the city. The Festival’s current operational model is a collaborative effort, 70 partners hosting more than 120 events throughout the Festival. This partnership-driven model has been key to its success.
Chinook Blast receives partial funding from its founding partners, who now constitute the Executive Committee, through both financial and in-kind support. The Executive Committee is a diverse group of Civic Partners who share a belief in the need and value of a winter festival for Calgary. The four organizations — City of Calgary (The City), Calgary Arts Development Authority (CADA), Tourism Calgary (Tourism), and Calgary Economic Development (CED) — have a shared mandate to serve all Calgarians, and the Festival’s success is grounded in that mandate. The range of experience, expertise, and knowledge that each Civic Partner brings to the table offers different perspectives and the ability to approach challenges as unique opportunities. They are the visionaries and communicators of Chinook Blast.
The Festival’s operating budget includes approximately $600,000 for programming, $400,000 for festival services, $300,000 for staffing and $330,000 for marketing, plus many hundreds of volunteer hours, partial funding and in-kind support from founding partners. As the Festival grows, it is transitioning to a sustainable model focused on sponsorships. These sponsorships are essential for programming, boosting brand awareness, enhancing reputation, and expanding audience reach. This approach fosters direct engagement with diverse community groups, making the Festival more inclusive and impactful. However, the Festival’s growth also presents challenges stemming from the absence of a single owner. This results in issues related to liability and insurance, dedicated staff time, decision-making, and limited resources for execution.
In order to ensure the Festival’s continued growth and sustainability, it is crucial to explore and compare potential business operating models, using the current partnership-driven model as a baseline. Engaging a third-party to conduct this analysis offers benefits, including objectivity, expertise, comprehensive analysis, and benchmarking against industry standards.
The selected business model should help secure stable funding, maximize the Festival’s economic and social impact, and align with the city’s broader strategic objectives, including downtown revitalization and enhancing Calgary’s global brand.
2. Objectives
The consultant will be engaged to:
- Develop and propose future business operating models for Chinook Blast for 2027 and beyond, ensuring to include a governance structure that clearly defines decision-making authority and accountability.
- Evaluate the current operational and financial models and suggest ways to secure stable, long-term financial support.
- Align proposed models with The City’s strategic priorities, including economic resilience, downtown revitalization, and cultural vibrancy.
- Assess the feasibility of the proposed models, considering the Festival’s growth trajectory, economic impact, and community benefits.
3. Scope of Work
The consultant’s scope of work will include, but is not limited to:
- Reviewing the current operational and financial models of Chinook Blast.
- Awareness of the four Executive Committee members.
- Conducting a partner and sponsor analysis, including consultations with major partners.
- Benchmarking against the operational models of similar festivals and events nationally and internationally to identify best practices and offer insights for improvement using the current operational model as the baseline for comparison.
- Developing at least three viable business operating models and comparing them to the current model as a baseline. Each proposed model should include a detailed implementation plan, covering potential funding sources, partnership frameworks, marketing and communications, and risk management strategies. The Executive Committee recognizes that it is unlikely that any proposed model will be feasible for implementation at the 2026 Festival.
- Providing a financial analysis for each proposed model, projecting potential revenues, costs, and economic impacts.
- Recommending strategies for maintaining and enhancing existing partnerships, including major partners, while demonstrating how these strategies support the development of new partnership opportunities.
- Identifying opportunities to align the Festival’s operations with the objectives of Calgary’s Greater Downtown Plan and other relevant strategies, like The City’s Winter City Strategy, CED’s Calgary in the New Economy, Tourism Calgary’s Destination Strategy, and CADA’s Living a Creative Life.
4. Deliverables
The consultant is expected to provide the following deliverables:
- Inception Report: Outline the approach, methodology, project schedule with milestones that account for Executive Committee review time, a high-level work plan, and a description of deliverables within the first two (2) weeks of the engagement.
- Interim Report: A mid-term review of findings, including initial business model concepts for Executive Committee feedback.
- Final Report: A comprehensive document outlining the proposed business operating models, using the current operational model as a baseline for comparison. This includes financial projections, implementation strategies, and alignment with City objectives. The final report will feature a summary table for easy comparison, along with a comprehensive report that includes an Executive Summary.
- Presentation: An initial presentation to the Chinook Blast Executive Committee summarizing the findings and recommendations. Additionally, a second presentation to the wider Executive organizations may be required. Final wrap up of the project could include an open-house style presentation to other interested parties, including artists, sponsors, vendors, volunteers, and staff.
5. Timeline
| Date | Item |
| April 7 | RFP issued |
| April 14 | RFP proponent notification of participation (optional) |
| April 28 | RFP proponent questions submitted. If you have questions, submit them to chinookblast@calgaryartsdevelopment.com |
| May 5 | Answer to questions emailed to all RFP proponents |
| May 19 | RFP submission deadline |
| May 27 | Proponent shortlist |
| June 2-3 | Finalist interviews |
| June 6 | Project awarded |
| November 6 | Deliverables completed |
| Process duration | 213 days (cumulative) |
A new model for Chinook Blast will not be implemented earlier than the 2027 Chinook Blast. The 2026 edition of Chinook Blast will be executed under its current model.
6. Budget
The consultant will provide a detailed budget proposal, including all fees, travel, and other expenses associated with the completion of the work.
7. Required Qualifications
- Proven experience in developing business models for large-scale festivals, events, or creative organizations.
- Strong financial analysis and strategic planning skills.
- Experience in engagement and collaboration.
- Understanding of Calgary’s economic, cultural, strategic, and political landscape is an asset.
8. Submission Requirements
Interested consultants should submit the following:
- A detailed proposal outlining their approach to the assignment, including a work plan and project schedule complete with key deliverables and milestones.
- CVs of key personnel who will be involved in the project.
- A budget proposal.
- Examples of relevant previous work.
9. Evaluation Criteria
The proposal will be evaluated based on:
Project understanding
- The consultant understands the assignment and proposed methodology.
- The proposal aligns with the goals and objectives of the Festival.
Feasibility
- The proposed plan is realistic and achievable within the given timeline, budget, and resource constraints.
Cost-effectiveness
- The proposed costs are reasonable and justified.
- The proposal offers good value for money.
Project Team
- The consultant has the necessary skills, experience, and qualifications to successfully execute the proposal.
Sustainability
- The proposal considers long-term sustainability and potential future impacts and will deliver significant benefits or improvements.
- The expected outcomes are clearly defined and measurable.
- The potential risks (e.g., financial sustainability, operational simplicity, or improved marketing) are identified and mitigated effectively in the proposal.
Engagement
- The proposal includes a plan for engaging and communicating with relevant parties.
Innovation
- The proposal offers creative or innovative solutions to the problem or opportunity.
| Item | Evaluation Criteria | Weight |
| 1. | Project understanding | 25% |
| 2. | Feasibility | 20% |
| 3. | Project team | 20% |
| 4. | Cost-effectiveness | 15% |
| 5. | Sustainability | 10% |
| 6. | Engagement | 5% |
| 7. | Innovation | 5% |
| Total score | 100% | |
10. Conflict of Interest
CADA reserves the right to disqualify a consultant or terminate the binding contract or formal agreement resulting from this RFP process (the ‘Agreement’) for any conduct, situation, or circumstance, that in its sole and absolute discretion, is determined to constitute a Conflict of Interest (COI). A consultant must not engage in any COI or communications that could breach its COI obligations and must declare any actual or potential COI in their submission response. For the purposes of this RFP, a COI means any perceived, potential, or actual situation or circumstances where, in relation to Chinook Blast or the major partners, a consultant:
- Has other commitments, relationships, financial interest, or involvement in pending or ongoing litigation that:
- Could be seen to exercise an improper influence over the objective, unbiased, and impartial exercise of independent judgement by any personnel of the major partners or their advisors; or
- Could be seen to compromise, impair, or be incompatible with the effective performance of the consultant’s obligations under the Agreement if that consultant is selected for this RFP;
- Has contractual or other obligations to the major partners or other members of the Executive Committee that could or could be seen to become compromised or otherwise impaired because of its participation in the RFP or the Agreement; or
- Has knowledge of confidential information of the major partners or Chinook Blast’s Executive Committee of strategic and/or material relevance to the RFP or to the Festival that is not available to other consultant and that could give or could be seen to give the consultant an unfair competitive advantage.
Please submit proposals to chinookblast@calgaryartsdevelopment.com by 5 pm MT on May 19, 2025.
Resources
Chinook Blast 2023 Final Report
Chinook Blast 2024 Final Report
