Dark Fringe Festival rises out of ashes of canned 2024 events Dark Mofo, Targa and Pangaea Festival
Dark Fringe Festival might have some big shoes to fill but it will break new ground to provide an ‘unmistakably different’ audience experience, organisers say. What will set it apart.
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The artistic directors of this year’s expanded Dark Fringe Festival say the depth of original art, music, citywide experiences and curated nightclubs will be a magnet for visitors.
Dark Fringe is being held from June 14 to 30, and with Dark Mofo, Targa and the Pangaea Festival cancelled in 2024, it is aiming to fill the void.
Co-director David Male said the festival was being held when there were no other major winter festivals or events occurring in Australia.
“Dark Fringe is strongly differentiated from any other offering in Australia,” he said.
“Its brand is distinct. The audience experiences and immersion it offers are unmistakably different.
“From our research, there is no other festival in the world quite like Dark Fringe 2024.”
Mr Male and fellow artistic director Sabio, have won national and international awards chosen by jury panels from New York, Tokyo, Paris and London.
They’ve worked on large-scale national projects and say they each bring to Dark Fringe a “uniquely personal, individual artistic vision and the global pulse of 2024”.
They say Dark Fringe has three distinct components – Hallucinate, Rattle Ground and Rest of the Fest.
“Hallucinate will capture the essence and messiness of artificial intelligence (AI) including large scale projections across the cityscape, through using cutting edge drones filling the skies, and through themed nightclubs that may include ‘Deep Fakes’ or throw up challenges for visitor entry; ‘prove you’re not a robot’,” they said.
“Larger venues will mesmerise with AI generated alternate visual worlds and pumping AI-created techno bass.”
Rattle Ground is planned to be held for seven nights in St David’s Park, near the Winter Feast, with the artistic vision created by Sabio.
They say characters representing the subconscious and unconscious elements of Sabio will interact with visitors throughout the park.
Dark Fringe producers are working with the Hobart City Council to finalise logistics of holding the event in the park.
“St David’s park will transform into another world,” Mr Male said.
“There will be deep audience engagement at the entry gates and throughout the different curated zones of the park.
“The playful, nuanced and magical unconsciousness of Rattle Ground reflects something that is very human, and very different to AI.
“It represents the Yin and Yang of Dark Fringe 2024: Human identity versus AI is within Hallucinate and then subconscious versus conscious identities are within Rattle Ground.
“Across all the experiences, everything is gamified. Citywide gamification at a human scale is one of the special experiences tempting local and interstate visitors.”
At the first Dark Fringe Festival last year, there were 53 events which attracted 10,000 people.
The major work was the Emergency Dollhouse project which was critically acclaimed and transformed a 200-year-old building in Collins St into another world.
It had over 30 performers and many of its 60 shows were sold out.
To get updates on Dark Fringe 2024 follow it on Insta: @darkfringe_hobart
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Originally published as Dark Fringe Festival rises out of ashes of canned 2024 events Dark Mofo, Targa and Pangaea Festival
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