Talking Point: Shine a light in the darkness and keep the party vibe alive

BEN SHAW: Put the millions of Dark Mofo government funding into regional events

WARMTH: Dark Mofo Willow Court Garden Party. Picture: Mona/Remi Chauvin

I COMPLETELY understand David Walsh’s reasoning for making the call on Dark Mofo, and absolutely respect what he and Leigh Carmichael’s crew have done to bring Hobart to life over the years of Dark Mofo.

I do not expect him to keep digging into his pockets and take risks, even if he is a professional gambler, he’s clearly a well educated one and can see the risks and rewards.

But what has happened is that an expectation has been created and Tasmanians now have a sense of ownership of this weird and wonderful celebration around our dark, cold, foggy Tassie winters. And you know what? The majority of us don’t want it to stop.

So, what do we do for 2020? Sit back and ride out what could be our most boring winter since Dark Mofo burst on the scene, or do we do what resilient Tasmanians do best and hook in and throw a party in our own backyards?

My community — being the beneficiary of a regional Dark Mofo event in 2016, when Mike Parr and the Dark lab team presented “the asylum” — knows very well the benefits on business, tourism and community out in regional areas, and would certainly recommend getting in on the action if you can.

At our 2016 event the DVC and community members banded together to create a “community garden party” lights in trees, fire pots in streets and local producers giving away or selling their wares!

Four years on people still ask me when are we doing another event. At the time our council hired an event planner and spent about $50,000 on the night time party. Admittedly it was on the back of the Asylum installations, however most community members remember the garden party and awesome feels in the lead-up to the event and the community coming together.

We managed to attract a world-class chef-hatted restaurant, the Agrarian kitchen, a rum distillery and Salamanca arts to come and invest in our region just on the back of this event.

So why do we not do a series of regional community parties to get us out of our houses and into our communities? Live, love and laugh together and embrace our winters. After all, that is what Dark Mofo set out to do, right?

With the buzz words around tourism being “regional dispersion” and encouraging visitors and more so locals to “holiday at home” and explore our own backyards, then let’s put our money where our mouths are.

The State Government gives about $2 million in cash to the Dark Mofo events, which I’m assuming will still be in the budget at this late stage. I’m sure there will be cash from Events Tas and tourism budgets that will be underspent now the event has been canned. So, why not still spend it on winter and getting people out and about and attracting tourists? If we do it by local government areas, I’m sure regions willing to participate could find funds in local budgets and will have the passionate people to pull an event together, whatever event suits the region.

Why not use this negative and turn it into a trial of what could lead into some communities taking on an annual event that pulls even more visitors, and gives those communities the confidence to step up and take charge of their own futures.

A perfect example is the Huon Midwinter Festival — a little help in the interim, some support and knowledge from professionals in the first year or so, and then away they’ve gone, and isn’t it magnificent!

An idea our council had already been toying with is a massive night-time street party, fire pots, lights, local producers and business coming together, our awesome local artists doing street art, music, sculptures, feeding and watering the locals and whoever else wants to join us in the foggy depths of winter.

My solution is fund local councils for a winter event, fund event planners, equipment, artists etc, but make sure its co-ordinated, with no time and date clashes, collectively we can create a whole month or two with things to go and see and do in our regions.

Alternatively, there’s going to be a whole heap of awesome people on the Dark Lab team who will not have a lot to do in the next few months, the government could still fund Dark Lab the $2 million and they could contract to each council to help pull events together. It allows them to keep all the talented passionate curators, event planners and staff employed but just delivering a unique whole-of-region project, with Leigh Carmichael at the helm I’m sure anything is possible, and what a stimulus package that would be! Let’s at least have the conversation.

Ben Shaw is mayor, Derwent Valley Council.