Strong start for Dark Mofo, as ticket sales hit 45% in two days

Hobart’s mid winter Dark Mofo festival looks set to match or exceed its 280,000 attendance of last year. Organisers are exhilarated by the initial ticket response for the June 10-21 event which this year has Storm as its theme.

Tickets went on sale this week, and reached 45% of the 2016 target by the second day, they told TMN. Last year Dark Mofo injected $46 million into the Tasmanian economy.

Dark Mofo Creative Director Leigh Carmichael said: “We are absolutely blown away with the early response to this year’s program. To have sold over 9000 tickets in just over a day and a half is unprecedented for us.

“The support from ticket buyers is a welcome boost of confidence for our team, and early numbers indicate that around 40% of all tickets are from interstate crowds, which is also very encouraging. This demand is a good indicator to us that the festival is still growing, and we hope that the strong sales trends continue.”

Dark Mofo’s ambitious off-the-centre bill of music, film, public art, food, noise and light has seen the festival grow rapidly. Crowds hit 150,000 in 2014 and 2013. Last year’s 280,000 figure was estimated on, like previous years, attendance over 10 nights, repeat visitation and a system of counting people through gates as many of the festival precincts are free entry and feature public art.

Of the contemporary music events, Dark Mofo’s opening night party with EDM producer ZHU at Hobart’s dockside MAC2 (with Oscar Key Sung, Kucka, Bronze Savage, Nite Fleit and Zero Percent) sold more than 1200 tickets in two days. The event kicks off a weekend of after-hours queer and deliciously dark music programming.

The Blacklist ’afterparty’ night club over two weekends at Hobart’s City Hall precinct and surrounds, sold out one night of presales. Other nights are at 50-60% capacity two months out. Organisers say that Sunday June 12 is a slow seller, but expect that to change when people realise that Monday 13 is a public holiday.

Other strong sellers include UK’s Savages and US dark EDM act Chelsea Wolfe who sold over 45% in two days. UK dark ambient producer Lustmord’s Australian exclusive appearance hit 51% in the same period. Wolfe, making her only Australian appearance, is joined by Jarboe of Swans / Neurosis, and Brooklyn experimental composer JG Thirlwell.

The Odeon Theatre hosts Hymns To The Dead (June 15) with “the darkest music we could find”. Performing are Prague death metal Cult of Fire, Swedish prog-black metal Tribulation, Greek death metal Dead Congregation and Melbourne’s utter doom Inverloch.

Other highlights include City of Hobart Dark Mofo Winter Feast (which by slashing ticket prices by half has already moved 1200 season passes giving them priority entry to the five days), while 1100 have registered for a ballot pick for the 800-capacty gothic costume ball The Funeral Party to be held at Turnbull Family Funerals in North Hobart.

Close to 200 people have already registered to participate in for Nude Solstice Swim. Last year saw 700 brave souls in the water to Sandy Bay’s Long Beach at 7.42 am on June 21 to welcome back the sun after the longest night.

Australian performance artist Mike Parr’s Asylum is a one-off installation in the Derwent Valley, in which he create works in response to the site of a historic mental institution dating from 1827. Asylum occupies different buildings including C Block which housed criminally insane males and therapy block. It includes the four-day 24 hour Entry By Mirrors Only which attendees have to leave behind a mirror of any kind.

Thunderhead sees Tina Havelock Stevens aka White Drummer performing off Little Frying Pan Island near Mona, in an improvised one-off live response to a video of the perfect storm along Highway 54 in Texas.

Divination is described as a “30s-era DaDa cabaret crossed with cypherpunk internet café, peopled by talkbots and other data-driven non-humans.”

Songwomen of Black Arm Band (Shellie Morris, Emma Donovan, Deline Briscoe, Ursula Yovich) are joined by True North to tell women stories through women songs.

For Dhāraṇī, Tom Vincent Octet develops a darker and larger ensemble to perform new extended jazz compositions, unifying ancient and contemporary music forms.

The Ukraine’s Lubomyr Melnyk, will, in his sole Australian show, prove if he can live up to the reputation of fastest concert pianist in the world.

There will also be over 25 free events and exhibitions. More program details will be revealed in coming weeks, and organisers expect another spike in ticket sales.

Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman said: “Dark Mofo has taken Tasmania by storm. The cultural tempest captivates with the promise of the unimaginable and the delivery of the unexpected. Dark Mofo transforms our darkest days into a cultural beacon, drawing tens of thousands of locals and visitors to our state. Once again, the Government is proud to partner with Mona to deliver Dark Mofo, a highlight on our cultural calendar.”

The Lord Mayor of Hobart, Sue Hickey added: “It’s incredible to think that it’s only four years since Dark Mofo sparked the transformation of Hobart from a winter city in hibernation to a must-see destination for art, performance and good food. The City of Hobart is delighted to back the festival through funding and in-kind support, not only because of the economic benefits, but because of the dramatic social and cultural impacts.”

Last year, Dark Mofo injected $46 million into the Tasmanian economy, after drawing 8000 from intestate and abroad. It also attracted an estimated $60 million worth of publicity for the island. Little wonder that the State Government this year doubled its funding to $2.1 million.

Plans by organisers are to build the festival’s attendance to 500,000 by 2020, growing its economic impact to $65 million and providing 560 mostly Tasmanian fulltime jobs.

By next year, they are hoping to initiate a P&O cruise from Sydney to Hobart, which will add an extra 2000 to the intestate numbers. Another idea being discussed is an artist-designed Qantas jet (as part of its sponsorship based on Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s Big Bunny jet.

Partnering with similar events in Berlin and Johannesburg is being explored, similar to its Edinburgh Festival’s branding.