Dark Mofo is a large-scale midwinter arts and music festival held annually in Hobart and created by Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). It’s known for turning the city into a dark, surreal winter playground centered around the winter solstice.
A few things define the festival:
A few things define the festival:
- Atmosphere: red lighting across the city, bonfires, fog, industrial aesthetics, experimental performances, and a mix of ritual, nightlife, and weird art.
- Music: heavy, electronic, experimental, post-punk, metal, ambient, underground hip-hop, avant-garde, and cult artists.
- Art & performance: immersive installations, provocative theatre, large-scale public artworks, film, and unconventional venues like warehouses, churches, waterfront spaces, and MONA itself.
- Rituals: recurring signature events include:
- Winter Feast — huge food-and-drink market with fire pits and Tasmanian produce.
- Night Mass — late-night party series with DJs, live acts, and club-style performances.
- Ogoh-Ogoh — giant effigy procession and ceremonial burning.
- Nude Solstice Swim — sunrise ocean swim marking the return of light after the longest night.
The festival launched in 2013 and has become one of Australia’s most internationally recognised arts festivals, attracting large interstate and overseas crowds during Tasmania’s winter off-season. Attendance in recent years has been over 100,000 visitors.
