Summer’s Soundtrack Begins With MOFO

The soundtrack to the Tasmanian summer will kick off when MONA FOMA gets underway tomorrow.

Hobart’s waterfront is being transformed into the perfect stage for the seventh annual festival and its eclectic mix of music and art.

The centrepiece is without doubt the giant art piece Exxopolis, an inflatable ‘luminarium’ created by UK sculptors Architects of Air.

The calibre of art and performers, and many in the audience who traverse the globe for MOFO, is a testament to the organisers who have given summer in Tasmania a unique cultural edge.

The Liberal Government is proud to provide $350,000 in funding and once again team with MONA to deliver this major summer event for locals and visitors to enjoy.

Last summer MOFO attracted more than 28,000 people to events over five days, with almost 45 per cent of tickets snapped up by interstate or overseas festival goers.

Events like MOFO will help the Liberal Government reach our target of attracting 1.5 million visitors to the state every year by 2020, which the industry says will create 8,000 new jobs.

Tasmania will continue to be the place to be as it hosts the Hobart International Tennis, the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, the Tasmanian International Arts Festival and the Cricket World Cup.

These events promise to keep the momentum of a stellar year in tourism rolling into 2015, after visitor records were successively smashed throughout 2014.

I congratulate the MOFO creators David Walsh and Brian Ritchie on making the festival all that it is today, and I thank their team for continuing to surprise us all.

MONA FOMA will take over the waterfront from January 15 to 18.
Will Hodgman, Premier