PONTE DE LIMA INTERNATIONAL GARDEN FESTIVAL

1º Objectives

The objectives of the Festival are to contribute on a local, national and international level to greater awareness of the art of the garden and to an increase in the importance of gardens and of green spaces in improving the quality of life of citizens, creating a movement that brings flowers, plants and art into closer contact with the urban space and is simultaneously a force for the preservation and enhancement of the values of the rural landscape.

Thus, every year eleven new gardens will be selected in accordance with these Regulations, the garden that received most votes remaining from the previous year.

2º Location and Headquarters of the Festival

1. The place in Ponte de Lima on the Campos de São Gonçalo between the Roman Bridge and the Bridge of Nossa Senhora da Guia on the right bank of the River Lima – The River of Forgetfulness.
2. The Headquarters of the Festival Board will be in the Paços do Concelho (Town Hall) in Ponte de Lima, and may be established at another location as designated by the Municipal Council of Ponte de Lima.

3º Date of the Festival

1. Each year from the last Friday in May until 31 October, with opening hours to be established by the Festival Board.

4º Selection Board

1. The Selection Board shall be formed each year by five members, preferentially from the following fields:

Two Specialists in Architecture Landscape, Gardening or Green Spaces.
One Specialist in Earth Sciences, Forestry, Botany or Horticulture.
One Specialist in Architecture or Design.
One Artist.

2. The Ponte de Lima Municipal Council shall appoint each year the Chairman of the Selection Board and the other members proposed by the Chairman of the Selection Board.

3. If competition entries are registered by a studio to which any Member of the Selection Board belongs or if for any reason there is a direct or indirect professional or family connection that is incompatible with their Membership of the Selection Board, the Selection Board member shall be substituted by another person to be designated by the Municipal Council.

4. The Selection Board shall meet at the Headquarters of the Festival to select the best eleven designs submitted and shall present a selection report to the Director of the Festival.

5. The Selection Board may not select the eleven gardens if the proposals do not possess what the Selection Board considers to be a minimum level as regards the quality of the designs, in which case one or more of the Gardens from the previous Festival may remain or the number of Gardens at the Festival may be less than the twelve initially planned.

6. The Municipal Council reserves the right to directly invite distinguished personalities in the field of this Festival to present proposals.

5º Festival Board

1. The Board shall comprise a Director and two Members to be appointed by the Municipal Council for the period coinciding with the Term of Office of the Municipal Council, although they may be relieved from these duties at any moment by simple decision of the Municipal Council.

6º Competencies of the Director

1. To promote all appropriate action regarding the competition process and the construction of each Festival.
2. To promote action to market and advertise the Festival.
3. To guarantee the working conditions of the Selection Board.
4. To ensure the regular maintenance of the Festival spaces, including both the fixed gardens and the temporary gardens.
5. To suggest and propose to the Municipal Council appropriate measures to guarantee the success of the Festival, including any investment proposals that may prove necessary.
6. To approach public or private entities in order to obtain sponsorship for the Festival and for the Gardens selected on an annual basis.
7. To decide on the suspension of entries into the site when the safety or the safeguard of the quality of Festival space is threatened.
8. To represent the Festival in Portugal and Abroad.

7º The Competitors

1. The competition is open to any citizen or group of citizens from any Country, individually or collectively, including Companies, Firms/Practices, Associations, Cooperatives, Schools, Universities, etc., etc.
2. Competitors are not required to possess any specific training or academic degree.
3. Each competitor may submit more than one garden proposal.
4. The selection board will give preference to competitors who have not been the creators of gardens selected in the previous three years.
5. The Selection Board will only select one garden per competitor.

8º Tender Documents and Official Languages

1. The competitors must indicate the plot for which their proposal is designed.
2. A plan of the plots is available in digital format at www.festivaldejardins.cm-pontedelima.pt.
3. Competitors should submit proposals in the form of a preliminary design with the materials, forms and the functioning of the space perfectly perceptible.
4. The drawings should be submitted on paper and may also be submitted in digital format.
5. The project description should occupy no more than six A4 pages and be written in one of the four regulatory languages: Portuguese, English, French or Spanish.
6. The proposal should be presented on an A1 poster, affixed to a hard surface, such as foamboard, which should contain the general plan of the garden.
7. The presentation of a model, samples or other illustrative material is optional.
8. The proposals presented may not contain solutions that require concrete or masonry construction or foundations, nor materials or plants with an individual weight over 100 kg, given the temporary nature of these projects.
9. The proposals may not contain solutions that require the use of heavy plant equipment, due to restricted access to the plots.
10. The competitors must indicate their sponsor, if applicable, at the time of the delivery of the proposals.
11. After the presentation of the proposals, each team will be represented by a single representative (individual) and will have a specific name covering all the members of the team.
12. Any proposal selected that on presentation of the final design is revealed to contravene the provisions of the subparagraph may be eliminated.

9º Deadline for Submission of the Proposals

1. The proposals must be received by November 10th, at the building of the Paços do Concelho building/ Environment and Green Spaces Division, or by email: festivaldejardins@cm-pontedelima.pt.
2. The Director of the Festival shall establish each year the calendar for submission of proposals and for the decision of the Selection Board.

10º Selection of the Proposals

1. The Selection Board shall announce the results of the competition by 25 November.
2. The Festival Director will communicate the results and notify competitors by email within ten days after the announcement of the competition.
3. If there are various proposals for the same plot, the Selection Board may make a change to the plot for the proposal submitted, in which case the competitor will have to alter and adapt the final design.
4. The proposals should be adapted to the areas and shapes of the existing spaces, and the Festival Board may arrange with competitors the possibility of choosing others spaces that might be free in the Festival area.

11º Presentation of the Approved Projects and Technical Specifications

1. Competitors must present the perfectly detailed execution project within a maximum period of 15 calendar days, after receiving the email confirming the selection of the proposal.
2. The final design should contain the following elements: written documents - measurements, budget and technical specifications; drawings: site plan, modelling and plans, construction details, planting plan.
3. After the presentation of the final design there will be a meeting of each representative of the team with a member of the Jury and a member of the Board seconded for this purpose, in order to evaluate and adjust the feasibility of each solution. These members may propose binding changes in the case of questions of public safety.
4. The summary of each garden to be affixed during the Festival or published must be in Portuguese and English, each applicant being responsible for its content; in the absence of this summary, the Festival Board may draw up a summary and provide its translation.
5. For the purpose of preparation of promotional material, in particular the Festival Catalogue, the competitors should provide in digital format drawings, schemes, plans, montages, photographs, etc, by 15 March, in reproduction quality, by electronic mail or other digital support.

12º

Construction of the Gardens

1. The competitors should start the construction of their gardens from January.
2. All the gardens must be concluded by forty-five days before the start of the Festival, without fail.
3. The installation of the gardens may be the responsibility of the competitors, and will be carried out by common agreement between the City Council and the competitors, or the Municipality.
4. Every garden will have financial aid or aid in the form of the supply of materials and plants up to a maximum of €10 000, if the applicants have not opted for an individual sponsor.
5. The entry of goods vehicles to the site shall be always determined by the existing conditions and restrictions, including the dimensions of the access paths and the durability of the materials.
6. Materials from previous Festivals existing in the Festival space or in support warehouses can be used in the construction of the gardens.
7. Each plot shall have a water outlet and an electricity outlet and shall be duly delimited by railings or hedges.
8. After the conclusion of the construction of the gardens, the Festival Board shall ensure watering and simple maintenance from the opening day until 31 October.
9. Any special maintenance requirements or major maintenance shall be the responsibility of the competitors until the end of the Festival.

13º Ownership of the Gardens

1. The gardens built with the sponsorship of the Festival Board or of sponsors recruited by the Festival Board shall be, at the end of the Festival, the property of the Municipality of Ponte de Lima, and may be placed in public spaces, donated to Schools, Local Authorities or Communities that serve the public interest, or sold to private individuals at the highest price offered in closed letters or by public auction.
2. The Festival Board may negotiate in advance with the sponsors of each garden the destination of the garden and the corresponding terms.
3. The gardens built entirely at the expense of the competitors or with sponsors that they have themselves recruited shall remain the property of the competitors, if they so wish.
4. Once the final designs have been submitted, the economic rights in the designs shall be transferred to the Municipal Council.

14º Dismantling of the Gardens

1. The dismantling of the gardens when they are the property of the competitors should take place no later than 30 November of each year.
2. If competitors do not dismantle the garden within the period established in the preceding paragraph, the Directors of the Festival may remove it, in which case the garden will become the property of the Municipality of Ponte de Lima.

15º Rights of the Festival Board

1. To Use the images of the gardens selected in its own publications or other media or for the promotion or marketing of the collective image of the Festival.
2. To identify in the garden or in the publications, in writing or on signs, the plants and materials used, and also to draw up a description of the gardens and its components if necessary.
3. To permit the Public and Media to obtain images of the gardens free of charge.
4. To make any alterations it may deem necessary for the proper execution and success of the design entries.

16º Rights of Competitors

1. All the competitors selected will have the right to freely enter the Festival site, and are required only to supply identification of personnel in order for them to be provided with passes.
2. Each competitor may also be given passes for the Members of the Design Project Team and Sponsors and also free entrance tickets totalling fifty per garden.
3. The competitors may also acquire entrance tickets for promotional purposes at 25% of the normal cost of the Festival entrance tickets with a maximum of 1 000 (one thousand) per garden).

17º Value of the Sponsorship

1. The Festival Board shall decide on the value to be attributed to sponsorship for each garden, depending on justified estimates of the cost of the materials applied and considering market values.

18º Festival Theme

1. The Festival may have each year one or more “themes” which shall be approved by the Festival Board as proposed by the Chair of the Selection Board.
2. The publicising of any themes for each year will be by posters, promotional material and the official Garden Festival website (www.festivaldejardins.cm-pontedelima.pt).

19º Other Events

1. On the site of the Festival and during the Festival, other events of a cultural and recreational character shall be held, as well as fairs or exhibitions related to art, green spaces, urban furniture or other themes appropriate to coincide with the Festival.
2. The Festival Board is responsible for establishing rules regarding the use of spaces and the selection of those interested in selling or displaying products at the different events.

20º Selection by the Public

1. Members of the public shall have the opportunity to elect during the Festival, by secret ballot, their three favourite gardens, and the results of the vote shall be announced to the public at the closure of the Festival after the votes have been counted in the presence of a representative of the Municipal Council.

21º Omissions

1. Any Omissions in these Regulations shall be resolved by the Festival Board and competitors shall not have the right to appeal or request compensation.

22º Entry into effect

1. These regulations will come into effect 10 days after their approval by the Municipal Assembly, and should be published in an announcement in the customary locations and on the Internet page of the Ponte de Lima International Garden Festival.