NIGP 96234: Event Planning Services

NIGP 96234 Event Planning Services, an Item code, encompasses the organization, coordination, and execution of public events, festivals, community markets, and venue management—ranging from holiday light displays and downtown street festivals to employee appreciation events and specialized venue operations. State and local governments procure this work through cities, counties, convention bureaus, tourism development councils, and special-purpose agencies; issuing bodies include municipalities (New Haven, Albany, DeBary, Holly Hill, New Smyrna Beach, Kissimmee), county-level tourism authorities (Monroe County Tourist Development Council, Okaloosa County, Pinellas County Convention and Visitors Bureau), and transit authorities (Dallas Area Rapid Transit). Recent solicitations reveal demand for event production management, festival and market coordination, venue operations and staffing, and ancillary services such as holiday décor installation and electric-vehicle neighborhood education events. Scope spans small neighborhood or community markets managed by independent contractors to large-scale festival programming, with some issuers seeking full-service execution and others focusing on strategic planning and oversight while retaining control of marketing or vision.

Recent activity concentrates in Florida (Monroe County, Okaloosa County, Pinellas County, DeBary, Holly Hill, New Smyrna Beach, Tampa) with secondary representation in Georgia (Albany), Connecticut (New Haven), Oregon, California, Texas (Dallas), and Colorado (Boulder). Representative opportunities include the City of New Haven Event Manager for The Boathouse at Canal Dock (SOQ due May 18, 2026, $70,000 annual budget, independent contractor), the City of Holly Hill Weekly Community Market Management Service (RFP due August 20, 2026, independent contractor with no city compensation), the City of New Smyrna Beach Holiday Lights and Decoration Display (RFP due May 13, 2026, three-year term with $30,000 annual budget, 100-point evaluation), Okaloosa County Venue & Event Management Software (RFP due September 25, 2026, multi-venue software platform for six facilities, three-year term), and the Pinellas County Convention and Visitors Bureau truss structure installation and dismantling services (ITQ due July 30, 2026, 24-month term with SBE preference for five-business-day early submission). Most opportunities are RFP or SOQ-based; several carry insurance requirements ($1 million general liability floors common), and a subset target repeat-use or annual operations under renewable terms.