A year after taking an unexpected break in 2024, Tasmania’s mid-winter festival Dark Mofo is back, kicking off on Thursday, June 5 and running until Sunday, June 15. Despite the hiatus and a significant internal overhaul, new artistic director Chris Twite is optimistic the festival will retain its familiar allure. This marks his first festival at the helm since joining Dark Mofo in 2023, the 11th iteration of the event.
Started in 2013 by the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Dark Mofo has steadily evolved into a cornerstone of the Australian event calendar. It offers nearly two weeks of art, music, performance, feasts and nocturnal revelry. In 2023, the festival reported attracting 45,000 interstate visitors and injecting over $55 million into the economy.
“We had to do a ground-up re-approach of ‘how do we rebuild the festival in a way that’s more financially sustainable, but still has the same impact, feel and longevity that it’s already maintained?’,” says Twite.
“From the get-go, we made sure those internal changes didn’t affect the outcome for audience members, so when they return this year, it should feel as big and as brash as every other year.”
Twite says achieving financial sustainability involved securing extra funding from the state government who are big festival supporters. It was also about his team reviewing their processes. “We’re basically building mini cities every year, so it’s a lot of processes that goes it,” he says.
When Dark Mofo’s 2024 cancellation news hit, it joined a growing list of major Australian festivals called off, including Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass and Groovin The Moo. Falls Festival was cancelled in 2022 and Mountain Sounds was canned in 2019.
Twite says he spoke to many business owners in Tasmania who felt the profound economic impact of Dark Mofo’s 2024 absence. “Beyond that, on a personal level, so many Tasmanians look forward to that time of year,” he says.
“It gets very cold here; the sun sets early. To be robbed of that opportunity to gather with friends and strangers around a fire and connect in the dead of winter — I think they really missed that. Many visitors missed it too, as it’s become the highlight of the year for countless people, their annual ritual.”
Could Dark Mofo serve as a blueprint for other festivals striving for financial sustainability? Twite admits he’s unsure how this year’s event will unfold, but the audience response so far has been overwhelmingly positive. For other festivals nationwide, he believes the challenge lies in rediscovering their identity and purpose within a new, financially demanding context. “That’s the reality of it,” he says.
“How do we make it work?” he says. “How do we maintain what we have? How do we build for a future? And how do we do that sustainably?”
For Dark Mofo, “what we have” involves the presentation of ambitious and often confrontational art. This includes showcasing new and emerging artists, established Tasmanian talent and international luminaries, all on an equal footing, encouraging audiences to engage with the caliber of their ideas.
This year, some works will extend beyond traditional venues, taking over the city and infiltrating its forgotten corners. Twite is confident Dark Mofo’s audience will seek out these hidden gems. He envisions families bundling up a child in a stroller and heading to a disused industrial yard to experience a giant installation.
“That’s a curious audience,” Twite says. “Not many people want to go out in the middle of the night with a little kid, but for Dark Mofo, they do. They revel in it, and you’ll see people from all walks of life getting involved in the festival.”
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