Dark Mofo is a cultural, artistic and experiential feast for all the senses. The premier Tasmanian festival returns from June 5 to 15 for its 11th installment, bathing Hobart (and beyond) in red for two weeks of hedonism, ritual and provocation.
After a pause in 2024, the festival welcomes new artistic director Chris Twite for his inaugural event, launching with an unprecedented number of exclusive events, that more than live up to Dark Mofo’s reputation for art and performance “that wouldn’t happen anywhere else”.
The festival takes place across Hobart's waterfronts, laneways, rooftops and basements. Dark Park, one of the main hubs, returns to Macquarie Point with a fresh layout, enlivening nearby streets, industrial spaces and warehouses. At the other end of the waterfront, the Winter Feast transforms Princes Wharf and Salamanca Lawns into a candlelit banquet. This year, Mumbai’s award-winning chef Niyati Rao joins Craig Will of Launceston’s Stillwater – expect a theatrical fusion of Indian and Tasmanian flavours, alongside fire barrels, live music, hot apple cider and whisky to counter the brisk winter air.
Dark Mofo has always thrived on repurposing hidden spaces, and 2025 is no different. Deconsecrated churches, bank vaults and the River Derwent’s shores all play their part, and the return of shape-shifting party Night Mass: God Complex will take over whole blocks of Hobart CBD. Pre-sale tickets were swiftly snapped up in November for the two-night event, which features more than 100 artists.
If you’re in Hobart and not at Dark Mofo, its presence will still be felt. Everything Is Recorded is an ambitious collaborative sound installation by UK music producer Richard Russell. This 30-minute meditation on equinoxes and solstices will sonically project across a seven-kilometre radius, reaching far beyond just festival ticket-holders.
Multidisciplinary Trawlwoolway artist Nathan Maynard confronts cultural theft in a powerful new commission, We threw them down the rocks where they had thrown the sheep. Housed in a basement, this “flesh-based” work promises to be one of 2025’s biggest talking points. Havana-born artist Carlos Martiel explores systemic violence against people of colour with two confronting pieces – starting with video work Cuerpo and culminating in an installation called Custody, where he imprisons himself inside an hourglass, naked and restrained as rising sand weighs upon him. And artist Paula Garcia and a stunt driver will get into two cars, and drive around the Regatta Grounds for two tension-filled hours of near misses that culminate in a head-on collision
Simon Zoric’s participatory piece Coffin Rides stems from morbid daydreams about what it might feel like to rest in the afterlife. Meanwhile, Quasi is a divisive, partial self-portrait-on-a-hand by Kiwi artist Ronnie van Hout that’ll appear on top of one of Hobart’s waterfront buildings.
Music-wise, the line-up is predictably eclectic. Beth Gibbons (UK), thevocalist with influential 1990s band Portishead, will open the festival at the Odeon. New York’s hardcore three-piece, Show Me the Body will be another act to look out for. Twite says they’re “hardcore … with a banjo. It’s so intense”. Other exclusives include the Horrors (UK) and Tierra Whack (USA), who brings her surreal performances and theatrical energy to Hobart.
Throughout the festival, attendees are encouraged to write their fears on paper and feed them to a giant Maugean skate (an endangered fish species endemic to Tasmania). On the last day of Dark Mofo’s two-week run is the Ogoh Ogoh. Departing from Parliament Lawn, the free procession is made through the streets of Hobart, with revellers following the Maugean skate all the way to Dark Park where it is set alight, burning to the ground in a fiery spectacle.
A week later, the Nude Solstice Swim officially closes the festival on June 21. More than 3000 brave souls will throw caution – and their towels – to the wind and plunge into the frigid waters of Long Beach, Sandy Bay. At sunrise, amid flares and fire barrels, bodies meet the elements in a raw, exhilarating ritual: a fitting finale to Dark Mofo’s immersive, otherworldly experience.
The festival also expands northward this year with Methyl Ethel and Thelma Plum performing at Launceston’s Princess Theatre, while Ulverstone’s The Hive planetarium hosts Xyzzy, a psychedelic musical odyssey by Jess Johnson (NZ) and Simon Ward (USA). Expect hypnotic hand-drawn animations set to ’90s-inspired synth music, featuring flesh mandalas, undulating worms, and messianic alien deities.
For Twite, tension is a defining theme of this year’s Dark Mofo.
“Think of the moment before you dive into the nude swim – that sharp breath, that quiet conversation with yourself. That moment repeats before stepping into the dark hallway of Night Mass,” he tells Broadsheet. “You’re being asked to dwell in that tension, to acknowledge change – and take it.”
His advice for first-timers? Curiosity. “If something looks interesting, go inside. If you’re scared, just step through the door. That’s where you’ll find the most incredible things.”
Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Dark Mofo. Tickets go on sale to subscribers on Wednesday April 9 at 10am AEST; general sale starts at noon that same day. Sign up for early access and browse the full program at darkmofo.net.au.
Broadsheet Access will release more off-market, VIP Dark Mofo packages on April 24. They'll include experiences unavailable to the public and tickets to key events that invariably sell out – like the debaucherous Night Mass.
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