Dark Mofo 2025 returns for round two. Kicking off a second weekend of midwinter festivities are performances from DIIV and The Horrors at the Odeon in Nipaluna/Hobart, as well as Methyl Ethel at Launceston’s Princess Theatre.
The festival has already seen over 210,000 entries, up from 180,000 in the first week of the last full-scale festival in 2023. Festival attendance peaked at about 16,200 visitors at 7pm on Saturday. Mona opened a new exhibition—in the end, the beginning, by Arcangelo Sassolino—and welcomed over 11,000 people during the first four days of Dark Mofo.
This year’s boundary-pushing art program has already seen Paula Garcia pull off a death defying head-on collision in front of over 4,000 people. The aftermath of her work, Crash Body, can be viewed at Dark Park for the rest of the festival. This week, Karina Utomo will unleash her Mortal Voice in the flesh at Basilica, and Carlos Martiel will be buried in sand over two hours at City Hall in Custody. Martiel has another work in the festival, Cuerpo—a film which sees the artist suspended at the edge of life—screened in The Old Bank alongside Paul Setúbal’s live performance work Because the Knees Bend. Musical performances this week include Alabaster Deplume, Berlin Atonal, the TSO and many more.
Sprawling late night party Night Mass returns on Friday and Saturday, featuring a multitude of artists waiting to be discovered and discussed. The Winter Feast is also back, serving up more squidlipops, possum baos, donuts and Analiese Gregory’s abalone (they sell out fast), along with offerings from Guest Chef Niyati Rao and her collaboration with Stillwater. The Feast continues with daily music performances and offers a free community day for all on Sunday 15, supported by the City of Hobart.
Weekend two culminates with the Ogoh Ogoh Procession and Burning, which sees the fears of festival-goers go up in flames inside a giant model maugean skate, created by Balinese artists. The Nude Solstice Swim takes place the following Saturday 21, a cleansing renewal ritual on the shortest day of the year.
