The Shifting Tides of the Tasmanian Winter
ARTICLE - Alice Armitage IMAGERY - Supplied
Traditionally, the winter months marked a time of economic downturn for Tasmania. As the winter freeze sets in, the tourist’s dollar headed north in search of warmer climbs and the island moved into a hibernation-like condition. But there is a strangely wonderful presence in Tasmania during the winter, one that has long been understood by locals and recently unveiled to the rest of us.
As the southernmost state has generally risen in popularity over the last decade, so has the allure of the off-season and all it has to offer. Of course there is one unfailable individual who much of this unveiling can be attributed to, David Walsh. The art collector and professional gambler best known for creating Australia’s largest privately funded museum, MONA. A masterpiece of architecture and engineering, the fortress that is MONA is carved into the sandstone cliff of the previously undesirable Hobart suburb of Berriedale, on the bank of the Derwent River. Creating a literal and figurative space to unleash the creative potential of the island state.
The subsequent provocative festival, Dark Mofo, has reshaped Tasmania’s reputation since its inception in 2013. Centred around the winter solstice, which takes place on the final night, pagan-inspired revelry boasts everything from public feasting, communion at nightclubs, immersive light installations, nude swims and surrealist operas. As part of the Dark Mofo programming in 2018, seventy-two year old performance artist, Mike Parr was entombed in a steel container under the main street of Hobart for seventy-two hours in a display of pure insanity and creative ingenuity. After climbing into the steel container he would call home for three days, the bitumen above was resealed, and the busy thoroughfare continued as the road was reopened to traffic. All in the name of art.
Drawing an estimated $20 million annually into the state's economy and an average of 500,000 attendants each year, this show of blatant subversion and extravagance has paved the way for others to embrace the typically grim and gloomy affair that is the depths of winter south of the Bass Strait.
Beyond the numbers, Dark Mofo has helped to transform what winter can mean in a cold southern climate and while the festival has preached a dedication to enrichment and transformation through ambitious art and ideas, this year it was ultimately cancelled due to the rising costs of its delivery. Some rituals will remain, but as this festival has left an indelible mark on the economics, culture and community of Tasmania, its absence also exacts an undeniable toll.
The success of Dark Mofo over the last ten years – minus a brief hiatus in 2020 – has opened the floodgates of appetite for winter adventure and exploration in Tasmania that sets the stage for the next generation of initiatives to flourish, and is making way for the next wave of bold reinvigoration.
The Festival of Voices is one such initiative that is rising to the challenge of filling the Dark Mofo shaped void in the Tasmanian winter calendar. Although this festival precedes Dark Mofo’s inception, this year the Festival of Voices is continuing to swell in popularity. With two-hundred and thirty events on the roster, this affair now reigns supreme as the largest Tasmanian winter festival and is expected to attract over 30,000 people to its events across its ten days.
Running from Friday the twenty-eighth of June until the seventh of July, the festival shares in Dark Mofo’s desire to ignite the bitter cold with creativity and gathering of community. From Mozart to Grammy award winning performers, a cappella workshops and country pub chorus with the Wolfe Brothers and concluding with lullaby-esque performance in St David's Cathedral, where thousands of people partake, the festival combines a myriad of musical affairs to create a truly immersive creative experience.
Now with events spanning across Tasmania, the festival continues to celebrate the power of voice and the joys of bringing people together, all while continuing to champion Tasmania as a must visit winter wonderland. For ten days musicians, creative thinkers, audience members, professional and amateur singers from all over converge in the island state to experience the treasure trove of opportunity unleashed in Tasmania’s off-season.
As the Festival of Voices approaches its twentieth anniversary in 2025 – the festival was first run in 2005 – it’s undoubtedly outgrown its modest beginnings. First held with just a small repertoire of events run by local volunteers, the festival has now grown to global acclaim that's obvious from the calibre of performers and participants involved in this year's events schedule, including a headline performance from the Grammy-nominated Australian artist, Montaigne. Who will perform on Saturday the sixth of July at the Odeon Theatre in Hobart – the building is a creative marvel of its own.
Although Dark Mofo has halted, the floodgates of possibility for the winter months seem to be permanently open. As initiative of such calibre and acclaim as the Festival of Voices continues to thrive, meaningful and long-term contributions are being made to the economic and cultural fabric of Tasmania, all while cultivating a once in a lifetime experience for those who attend.
Are you now frantically planning your mid-winter escape to the south? You can still snag yourself tickets to most Festival of Voices events!