The decision to hold the Hong Kong Festival was made at the highest level by the Executive Council. The Festival of Hong Kong Steering Committee, commissioned by the Governor, was tasked primarily with the policy making of the event and to supervise and co-ordinate planning and execution. In 1968, Governor David Trench named Unofficial Executive Council Member Sir Cho-yiu Kwan, Chairman of the Committee; other members were S.Y. Chung (Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce) M.A.R. Herries (Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and Chairman of Jardine, Matheson & Co), Ronald Lee (Chairman of TVB) and Jack Cater, the Deputy Colonial Secretary. This Committee did not come under any one government department; rather, its brief was to coordinate different departments on matters regarding the Festival.

Under the Steering Committee was an Activities Committee (renamed Executive Committee in 1971) which was responsible for making recommendations on the programme of activities to the Steering Committee. Once the recommendiations were approved, the Activities Committee carried them out. The Activities Committee was chaired by A.de O. Sales; other members were all leaders of the commercial and industrial sectors such as Liu Lit-mo、Woo Po-shing、Peter P.F. Chan、Wai Kee-shun. The 1971 committee also included R.H. Lobo, an unofficial member of the Legislative Council. Many subcommittees were set up under it to handle different activities: in 1969, the activities were categorized into exhibitions, sports, youth activities, music, entertainment and decorations; in the two following Festivals which featured such large-scale events such as the Grand Procession, the number of subcommittee increased so that more people were brought in to strengthen the team. They included Ko Siu-wah、William H.C. Wan、Chow Kwen-lim、W.K. Lee and others. In addition, the Hong Kong Festival Office was established, headed by a Festival Coordinator. The first Coordinator was I.M. Lightbody, who was succeeded by N.B.M. Whitley. The Office, whose staff was seconded from the administrative staff of different departments, was in charge of all coordination and implementation work.

Another task of the Hong Kong Festival Office was to plan the budget and seek financial resources from the Legislative Council. In 1971, it was allocated $2 million, and in 1973, $ 2.2 million. In addition, it solicited donations from different sectors, but the income from these sources was comparatively small -- only $200,000 for each Festival.