Dark Mofo festival cancelled for 2024 amid ‘rising costs’

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Hobart's Dark Mofo festival has been cancelled for next year due to rising costs. The popular winter festival draws thousands of visitors to Tasmania during the quieter months offering an important boost for tourism operators.

Transcript

00:00 I think for many years we know that running big events like this come as a big burden

00:07 on people's shoulders. But yeah, look, of course, we've got quite a lot of disappointment

00:11 today and that's really only because this festival is so loved by not only visitors

00:16 by Tasmanians, but really the most important thing for us is that Dark MoFo remains a staple

00:22 of winter for decades to come. And so if that means that it has to, that the organisers

00:26 have to take a year off, consolidate, look at how they can deliver it sustainably into

00:31 the future, then we support that 100%. But of course, we love this festival and it's

00:37 a quintessential part of Tassie and we can't wait to have it back.

00:41 So organisers say some events will still go ahead, such as the Winterfest and the nude

00:46 Solstice Swim. Will this be enough to attract some visitors?

00:49 Well, look, those two events are very important and we do welcome that they're still going

00:54 ahead. The Feast is a big event and if anyone's been down to Tassie, they'll know that it

00:59 just thrives in the middle of Salamanca in winter. It's cosy, there's fires. It's a showcase

01:05 of amazing Tassie produce. So we're really keen and happy that that's still continuing

01:10 and that does get a really strong visitation from interstate. And of course, the swim,

01:15 you know, that's taken on a bit of a cult following and it's really important that that's

01:19 continuing. But of course, it's not the broader festival and that broader festival, which

01:24 is that focus on art and installations did bring a broader crowd. So what we're needing

01:30 to do and wanting to do is work with government on how do we offset any impact. And there's

01:35 a number of things that we think we can be doing there.

01:38 So this event, of course, happens during winter. What is tourism typically like during these

01:42 colder months and just how important is this event to the tourism industry?

01:47 Well, over recent years, we've really tried to promote ourselves and cement ourselves

01:52 as a leading destination in winter. We see ourselves as this getaway to be warm, to be

01:58 cosy, and it's working really well. But as we go into summer, we get lots of visitors.

02:06 As we go into winter, we need to smooth out and become smooth out that seasonality. So

02:10 winter is really important to us in events like Dark Mofo play such an important role.

02:16 So what we want to do is work with government and look at our existing events. Is there

02:19 any way that we can expand those? Can we attract new events to Tassie? And how do we work with

02:25 airlines through tourism Tasmania to get more people interested in coming to Tassie and

02:30 get in front of everyone on the mainland and say, come down to Tassie because it really

02:33 is special and there's lots to do in winter.

02:37 Organisers are calling this kind of a period of renewal and a time to face rising costs.

02:42 Is there a bit of a result of a breakdown between talks between organisers and the state

02:46 government in terms of funding?

02:47 Look, no, I don't think so. The organisers are saying that they have had really productive

02:52 conversations with government and government has come to the party to ensure that these

02:56 two remaining events occur. I think this is really a decision from the organisers. They've

03:01 had a decade worth of events. They really want to make sure that it stays on brand and

03:06 that continues to live up to its reputation. And that's a decision that's been made by

03:11 them. But I think what we're saying as an industry is that government does need to step

03:15 up to the plate, work with us. And I know the premier has been out today and is keen

03:20 to do that to ensure that we really work hard to get visitors here in winter because we're

03:25 going to need to work harder. Dark mofo obviously generated a lot of demand. So we want to work

03:31 with government, look at what events we can have, what we already have and what more do

03:36 we need to do to get more people travelling to Tassie in winter.

03:39 So dark mofo is the main draw card during the winter months. Is this maybe a chance

03:45 for a new event to come forward?

03:47 Well, look, absolutely. I think what I've been talking about today is this may lead

03:52 to more innovation. I think that, you know, bright sparks out there will be looking at

03:57 what Tassie is and what it has to offer. And it may lead to some really innovative ideas.

04:01 And that's what we want to see. And I think we're really good at that here in Tassie.

04:04 We come up with innovative ideas that are quintessentially on brand, quintessentially

04:09 Tasmanian. So that's the work we have to do between now and winter to look at what

04:13 different events can we come up with to draw people down here. And I think there'll be

04:19 some great minds thinking about that in the next few weeks.

04:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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