Knowing members of the new organising committee, one thing they will NOT be is uprofessional.
That said, there will be a heck of a lot of stuff to organise, and Malcolm probably had most of what needed to be done in his head through having done it for so long. As for the web site, the festival is not until August and most people who will be buying advance tickets will probably not be thinking about doing so until May or June, when deadlines for early purchase reductions concentrate the wallet. Web sites are one of the items which are fairly low on the agenda for November.
As for booking artistes. I have no idea what the new committee's policy will be. They may keep something resembling Malcolm's set-up, or they may have a diferent agenda. They may want a guest list which isn't identical to every Whitby for the past 20 years.
As for performers. Often an individual will perform at a club or festival because they have a long friendship with the organiser. Often they will ask a smaller fee than when performing at other places without the personal history. When the organiser retires, that long frienship is not with the new organiser, so the rules and expectations change. The new committee may be having to negotiate very different contracts than Malcolm had to deal with.

Just a few completely uninformed an personal observations.
Quack!
GtD.