Dark Mofo 2025: Tasmania's Provocative Winter Festival Is Reborn 5-15 June
Hobart’s chilling winter wonderland is about to be ignited once more as Dark Mofo 2025 rises from its one-year hiatus, stretching from 5–15 June, with a bold promise: to disturb, delight, and deepen our experience of art, culture, and humanity’s darker edges.
Founded in 2013 by the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Dark Mofo has long been one of the most unapologetically raw festivals on the planet. It's where pagan fire rituals meet modern-day performance art, and where electronic beats and screaming banshees echo through Tasmania’s deep winter nights.
After a scaled-down 2024 edition, 2025 is a full-scale resurrection—and it’s bigger, bolder, and more bizarre than ever.
The Rituals Return
Every Dark Mofo has its signature blood-pumping moments, and 2025 is bringing back the full slate of iconic rituals:
- Winter Feast: A culinary bacchanalia running across multiple nights, where fire-lit banquets feature Tasmanian and global cuisine, local brews, and a deeply atmospheric vibe.
- Night Mass: God Complex: Think church meets nightclub meets fever dream. This late-night program features immersive installations, music, and ecstatic revelry in undisclosed locations.
- Ogoh-Ogoh: Inspired by Balinese tradition, the towering effigy designed by community members will once again be paraded through Hobart’s streets before being ceremoniously burned to purge collective fears.
- The Nude Solstice Swim (21 June): Strip down and plunge into the icy Derwent River at dawn—because what better way to welcome rebirth than in your birthday suit?
A Lineup to Make You Sweat (Even in the Cold)
Dark Mofo is renowned for curating avant-garde acts that provoke as much as they perform. The 2025 music and art lineup is nothing short of revolutionary.
Headliners include:
- Beth Gibbons of Portishead opens the festival at the Odeon with her ethereal, soul-aching vocals.
- Show Me The Body fuses hardcore punk with banjo—yes, really—and will shred your soul open.
- Tierra Whack brings surreal lyricism and a vibrant, theatrical stage presence.
Other musical highlights include The Horrors, Boy Harsher, Methyl Ethel, Machine Girl, and the ethereal fusion of Lisa Gerrard + Cye Wood + William Barton with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Check the Full Program
Art That Grabs You by the Throat
This year’s art program is spine-tingling, emotional, and sometimes terrifying. Expect works that grapple with themes of cultural trauma, bodily autonomy, and the uncanny.
Standout pieces include:
- Carlos Martiel’s "Custody": A harrowing performance where the artist traps himself naked inside an hourglass, slowly buried by sand.
- Nathan Maynard’s "We threw them down the rocks where they had thrown the sheep": A chilling confrontation with cultural genocide and historical erasure, set in a darkened basement.
- Paula Garcia’s "Crash Body": A live car collision turned performance art.
- Simon Zoric’s "Coffin Rides": Ever wondered what it feels like to lie in your own casket? Now’s your chance.
And let’s not forget "Everything Is Recorded", a haunting sonic broadcast by UK producer Richard Russell that will echo across Hobart’s skyline.
Free Events & Practical Magic
Yes, there’s a lot you can do without spending a cent. Many major installations, performances, and experiences are completely free—just be prepared to queue.
Don’t miss:
- "Winter in the Garden" – a day-to-night hub with live acts and local eats.
- "La Danse Macabre" – Claudia Comte’s gothic-tinged visual feast.
- The Ogoh-Ogoh Procession & Burning – ritual fire on the final night.
Getting around is easy—most venues are walkable from the Hobart waterfront. Just remember: Dark Mofo is cashless, so bring your cards and charge your phone (tickets are all digital). There are also helpful info booths to keep you oriented as the chaos unfolds. Check the free Events
🎟️ Tickets: What You Need to Know
Dark Mofo is fully cashless, and all ticketing is digital. Here’s how to navigate the red-tinged labyrinth of entry:
- Tickets are on sale now at darkmofo.net.au.
- You'll receive a digital link for all purchased tickets. QR codes unlock 12 hours before each show.
- Some events (like the Nude Solstice Swim) are free but still require registration. That’s right—you’ll need to sign up to get chilly in your birthday suit.
- Major events sell out fast, so if you're eyeing something—like Night Mass or Beth Gibbons—don’t linger.
- Missed out? Dark Mofo offers a resale function through their system if events sell out. There’s no general waitlist, so check back regularly.
- Each order has a $6 booking fee (unless you’re snagging just Mona tickets or swim passes).
Hot Tip: Don’t buy from scalpers. Tickets are traceable and uniquely barcoded. Scalped tickets may be voided—Dark Mofo takes this seriously.
Legacy, Tension & Transformation
As MONA founder David Walsh cheekily notes in his foreword, Dark Mofo’s legacy is a strange and wonderful beast—one of transgressive beauty, ritual chaos, and tender communal catharsis.
New artistic director Chris Twite invites us into the stillness before the plunge—the tension between dread and ecstasy. That moment before you are “remade.”
And when you emerge—naked, dazed, euphoric—know you’re not alone. That’s Dark Mofo.
Dark Mofo 2025 runs 5–15 June, with the iconic Nude Solstice Swim on 21 June. Come to be shattered. Come to be whole again.
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