Dark Mofo will once again take over Hobart with a return to a full program for 2025

After taking a beat in 2024 to reflect on what it could offer moving forward, Dark Mofo will return in 2025 after a huge cash injection from government. Here’s the latest.

Winter Feast, Dark Mofo Picture: Rosie Hastie/DarkLab

Dark Mofo will return in its full glory for the winter of 2025, with organisers saying the festival will be “darker than ever” thanks to a huge cash injection from the state government.

This year Dark Mofo presented a scaled back festival in Hobart with Dark Mofo Artistic Director Chris Twite saying the pause had been necessary for organisers to reflect on how to keep the festival fresh and viable in a strained economic climate.

“Costs have skyrocketed increasingly high over the last few years, and that is what really prompted the festival to have to take that year off to look and find ways we could reduce those costs while still maintaining our quality,” Mr Twite said on Friday.

Artistic Director of Dark Mofo, Chris Twite at the announcement of the 2025 festival. Picture: Linda Higginson

Popular staples of the festival, which has been a stalwart of the Hobart winter for over a decade, are set to return including the Winter Feast, the Ogoh-Ogoh, Night Mass and the Nude Solstice Swim.

Nick Duigan, the Minister for Sports and Events said the government would invest $21.6 million to support Dark Mofo through to 2027. The minister said the “iconic” event delivers a “strong return on investment to the state” and boosts the tourism and hospitality sectors during the quiet winter months.

“The festival drives significant interstate and international visitation to Tasmania during our off-season, and from 2013 to 2023 attracted more than 300,000 unique visitors to Tasmania,” Mr Duigan said.

Gallery: Dark Mofo Winter Feast 2024

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The Museum of Old and New Art creative director David Walsh has also kept the festival afloat, Mr Twite said, saying that he had invested $30 million over ten years.

The announcement was met with joy from Tasmanian tourism operators who said 2024 was a tough year without the buzz of Dark Mofo.

Dark Mofo Nude Solstice Swim 2024 at Long Beach Sandy Bay. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Amy Hills from the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania said tourism operators around the state were “incredibly happy” that the festival was returning.

“So we’re so incredibly grateful and excited to have Dark Mofo back,” Ms Hills said.

“I think that while we understood the decision to have a pause in that bigger festivalwe always knew that June in particular was going to be a really difficult month.”

Ms Hills said the high cost of insurance, low tourism numbers and the rising cost of living had really hit tourism operators this last Winter.

“That this festival could come back and have increased longevity I think that’s a really big win.”

The CEO of Tasmania’s Small Business Council Robert Mallett said the investment “is no random stab in the dark” by the state government.

‘The sense of gloom felt across the state over this past winter with no Dark Mofo reinforces the need for a well-managed and run, significant event to tell the rest of the world that Tassie is fun in the winter,” Mr Mallett said.

Festivals around Australia, especially music festivals, have been in decline for many years, with many struggling to turn a profit or even pay their bills and a number of high-profile festivals, such as Splendour in the Grass, shutting up shop.

The full program of 2025 Dark Mofo will be announced in April and the festival will run for two weeks from Thursday June 5 to Sunday June 15 with the nude swim on Saturday June 21.

The festival, like Mona, plays with themes of birth and death, and celebrates dark and ancient pagan rituals through music, art, food, and film that explore the links between ancient and modern mythology.

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