Dark Mofo festival canceled for 2024: Hobart event will return in 2025
- The event attracted 400,000 people this year
- Dark Mofo is expected to return in 2025
Hobart’s popular winter festival Dark Mofo will be put on ice next year as organizers aim for a move to a more sustainable event amid rising costs.
They intend for the festival to return in full force in 2025 and “lay the foundations for the next 10 years”.
The winter festival and nude solstice bathing will continue into 2024 under an agreement with the Tasmanian government.
The festival says that despite record attendance and box office sales this year, it must “take stock of changing conditions and rising costs” and prepare for the future.
Hobart’s popular winter festival Dark Mofo will be put on ice next year as organizers aim for a move to a more sustainable event amid rising costs.
Dark Mofo creative director Chris Twite said it had been a difficult decision.
“This is not something we undertook lightly but it is what we decided to do to ensure the future of the festival,” he told reporters on Friday.
More than 400,000 people flocked to Dark Mofo 2023, which featured 400 artists in 65 events at 35 venues.
Some performances had to be moved after record ticket sales, which generated $5.5 million for the festival’s box office.
Twite said the state government had been proactive in coming up with solutions so the festival could go ahead in 2024.
More than 400,000 people flocked to Dark Mofo 2023, which featured 400 artists in 65 events at 35 venues.
“We are grateful for the support and assistance the state government has shown in response to our need to reshape the future,” Twite said.
“Dark Mofo has always been dedicated to enriching and transforming lives through ambitious art and ideas.
“We want to make sure we have a festival that continues to feature incredible art and artists.”
The state government announced a three-year deal in September 2021 providing $7.5 million for the festival.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government would work closely with organizers on plans for a 2025 return.
The Museum of Old and New Art plans to open a major new exhibition during the winter of next year.
Dark Mofo has often sparked controversy, most notably in 2018 when inverted Christian crosses were installed along Hobart’s waterfront.
In 2021, he was forced to abandon a work that asked indigenous people to contribute their blood after backlash calling the work insensitive and disrespectful.
Twite replaced Leigh Carmichael, who stepped down as artistic director after this year’s festival, having held the role since the inaugural event in 2013.
The winter festival and nude solstice bathing will continue into 2024 under an agreement with the Tasmanian government.
