Winter festival Dark Mofo has been a staple for a decade in Tasmania’s chilly June. But organisers have announced next year's festival will not go ahead. Tourism and hospitality businesses are anxious they'll miss out on a vital cash injection in the off season and revellers are already mourning the loss of the popular festival.
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00:00 It's weird, it's wacky and for 10 years it's brought a little warmth to Hobart's chilly
00:08 winters.
00:11 Now organisers say it's time for Dark Mofo to take a year off.
00:16 We need to reshape the festival so that we can address what is a very changed landscape.
00:23 This year's festival saw record attendance and box office results.
00:26 But organisers say they're feeling the effects of rising costs.
00:30 While it's a tough decision, it allows us the time to ensure that we have a festival
00:35 for another decade of darkness.
00:37 It's a call that's left some Tasmanians feeling a little lost.
00:41 What do you reckon it will be like winter without Mofo?
00:44 Dead, yeah, dead, pretty dead.
00:47 All my friends usually go out to it, so not too sure what I'm going to do in winter.
00:52 I think it's pretty disappointing, I like to check it out every year and yeah, it's
00:56 a lot of fun normally.
00:57 And it'll mean some pain for tourism and hospitality operators who rely on the festival for off-season
01:03 revenue.
01:04 It's bigger than Christmas and New Year's for us down here, so yeah, I'd certainly be
01:08 sad to lose any of it.
01:09 We're just going to have to work really hard to make sure that we're in front of everyone's
01:13 eyeballs on the mainland about why winter is so important here in Tassie.
01:18 Dark Mofo runs an operating loss of up to $5 million a year.
01:23 That's covered by Mona founder David Walsh, who's contributed $30 million over the past
01:28 decade.
01:29 The festival says he remains committed to funding it for the next 10 years.
01:33 We intend to return in full force in 2025.
01:36 The good news is the winter feast and Solstice Nudeswim will still go ahead with state government
01:41 support.
01:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]