The promo suggests, “Those wanting to be pushed out of their comfort zones will have plenty of opportunity, and those that don’t will just have to hang on until it’s over.”
Indeed, it’s reported that the third annual Dark Mofo midwinter festival is going to be darker than ever.
Running from June 12-22, Dark Mofo combines ancient traditions with current artforms to celebrate the dark through art, food, film, music, light and noise – more than 120,000 people went last year.
Creative director Leigh Carmichael says, “Once again, the Dark Mofo 2015 program will be in search of unchartered territory and new experiences for the audience.”
He also urged Dark Mofo visitors from outside Hobart to start making travel and accommodation plans now, if they haven’t already and called on local businesses to get behind the ‘Paint the Town Red’ theme that accompanies the festival.
“We are hoping that an even greater number of businesses and organisations join in to ensure Hobart puts on the party of the year, every winter,” he said.
“I think it’s incredibly important that our interstate visitors get a sense of the whole community being involved in our midwinter revelry. This celebration is now much bigger than the festival itself.”
Since Neolithic times, seasonal winter solstice rites have been held to face the darkness and bring back the light and Dark Mofo celebrates both ancient and contemporary mythologies, birth and death, fire and laser light – with some good music, art and food thrown in.
The festival in 2015 will feature a number of large-scale public artworks to awaken the stygian Hobart nights, a longer and lustier five-night City of Hobart Dark Mofo Winter Feast, a late-night ceremonial death dance called Blacklist, a new, gritty and gripping Dark Mofo Films program and a wild assortment of music, theatre, performance, exhibitions. And there will be a lot of fire.
It all builds up to a celebration of the longest night, with all-night performances during the winter solstice from dusk until dawn, finishing with the annual Dark Mofo Nude Solstice Swim to greet the return of the sun.