The Department of Tourism will only provide a $800,000 sponsorship fee for the Bermuda Music Festival this year.

A request for proposal (RFP) from Government stated it will shift the financial burden to the producer.

The event has seen the likes of Beyonce, Lionel Richie, Earth Wind & Fire and UB40 grace the Island over the years, but has been criticised for wasting millions of taxpayers' dollars while bringing in few tourists.

Both the United Bermuda Party and Bermuda Democratic Alliance welcomed the decision and believe the RFP is an admission by Government that the format did not work.

This week the Department advertised an RFP for vendors to bid to produce the 15 annual music festival.

It stated: "One of the primary goals of this event is to attract visitors to our shores.

"The Department would be the title sponsor of this event and would, under a contractual agreement with the appointed producer, support the BMF 2010 via a sponsorship fee only.

"The producer shall take full financial control of the BMF, be responsible for planning, production, management, administration, solicitation of additional sponsorship, creation of visitor packages, overseas marketing and all expenses arising in connection therewith."

The producer is also not limited to the current format, which has seen overseas acts perform over three days in October.

Instead they can pitch something that would "implement a musical festival atmosphere over several weekends throughout the year".

The RFP also stated that dates had not yet been set in stone for the event.

It added: "The producer must not be dependent upon the Department of Tourism's support."

The Royal Gazette asked the Department why the changes were being made and what impact they would have on future festivals.

A spokeswoman said: "[The changes have been made] in an effort to maintain a quality event while simultaneously reducing the cost.

"The change in the business model should not impact the quality of the event; it is merely an adjustment to event financing."

The previous format saw the Department of Tourism spend $1.9 million for the 2009 festival. It recouped $900,000 from tickets sales. Tourism officials said 383 tourists came to Island for the event.

In 2008 it cost taxpayers $3 million to put on the festival, which attracted 1,500 visitors. The profit or loss for 2007 has never been revealed, although revenues were $1.68 million and about 1,500 visitors attended. In 2006, the festival lost $1.5 million.

Yesterday UBP Senator Michael Dunkley, who has long called for a change in the way the festival is financed, said: "The Bermuda Music Festival as managed by Dr. Ewart Brown has been an unmitigated business disaster.

"The whole point of the festival, as originally envisioned in the 1990s, was to broaden the appeal of Bermuda as a vacation experience thereby attracting more visitors to our shores at a time of year when visitor arrivals slowed."

In recent years, Senator Dunkley said, the original objective has been lost amid "spin, spending, celebrity-basking and self-glorification".

"It is not surprising the Government did not announce a change in approach to the event," he added. "To do so, would have been an open admission of its failure.

"But we commend them for taking the festival back to the drawing boards. And we are encouraged by its back-to-basics primary aim to attract visitors to our shores.

"As long as the promoters and the Minister of Tourism keep that objective at the forefront of their thinking we'll have a music festival that works for our tourism industry and the many Bermudians who love live music."

And BDA MP Shawn Crockwell said: "This appears to be an implied admission by the Government that the annual Bermuda Music Festival is not achieving its stated objective of attracting more tourists to our shores and has therefore been an exercise of financial waste."

"We are encouraged that in these difficult economic times the Government has shifted its approach and will proceed in a more fiscally prudent manner.

"Our only concern is that the producer selected is qualified to manage such an event and will be held to the proper checks and best practices to ensure the desired outcome can be delivered."