Will Hodgman: Dark Mofo Igniting Hobart’s Winter Again

Dark Mofo is lighting up Hobart’s night sky again, signalling the start of the solstice festival that is rewriting attitudes about winter in Tasmania.

Last year’s inaugural festival attracted more than 80,000 people to a wide range of events and injected more than $20 million into the local economy.

This year’s event promises large-scale public art projects, nightly winter feasts, exhibitions and installations, a film program, music, and sound and light displays.

Locals have embraced our chilly winter and last year accounted for more than 70 per cent of the festival goers.

But the rest of the world is now catching on that a winter in Tasmania is also culturally cool.

That’s why the Liberal Government is a strong supporter of the festival, providing $1 million in funding to event organiser MONA through Events Tasmania.

It is events like Dark Mofo that will help my government achieve our target to grow the tourism industry to 1.5 million visitors per year by 2020.

Dark Mofo runs until June 22. For more information: http://darkmofo.net.au