It has just been announced that Dark Mofo 2020 will be cancelled due to the feared impact of coronavirus.
The festival, which takes place every year in Hobart, is famous for its distinct pagan influence and embracing of darker themes. It’s the first major Australian music festival to be cancelled due to the virus.
Sadly, Hobart’s Dark Mofo 2020 will not be going ahead due to the predicted impact of coronavirus, making it the first Australian festival to be cancelled.
Dark Mofo was set to take place in Tasmania this June. This marks the first time the festival has been cancelled in its 7-year history.
“After a thorough risk assessment on the potential impact and disruption of coronavirus, we have been left with no option other than to move the current program to 2021,” Festival Creative Director, Leigh Carmichael, said in a statement.
“The financial exposure faced by David Walsh of a festival-wide last-minute cancellation would run into the millions, and likely end the event permanently. We’ve had to act decisively to ensure Dark Mofo’s long term survival.
“Our current priority is to minimise the implications and cost on our audience, artists, suppliers, sponsors and key stakeholders, and support our staff through a challenging period.”
Whilst it must have been a difficult decision, ensuring the future of the festival is definitely the most important thing right now.
So far, the only act announced on the festival was Bon Iver, who was set to play multiple sold-out shows. Luckily, the festival has announced that these will still go ahead. It appears that the rest of the program will be moved to the 2021 iteration.
Dark Mofo follows in the steps of SXSW, which was cancelled over the weekend, as well as Coachella which is also reportedly set to face cancellation.
In a statement posted to the website, festival organiser David Walsh wrote:
“It’s likely that nothing will happen. June will roll up, COVID-19 will die down, and I’ll look (more) like a fool for having cancelled. But that’s the best thing that could happen. The worst thing that could happen is not me trashing my cash…
“Worse than that, for me at least, would be proceeding with Dark Mofo and having it fail, and thus having it become the final Dark Mofo. That would mean facing a future of Hobart winters unpunctuated by pageantry, and thus returning to a tyranny of complacency – that worse-than-COVID Hobart malaise of believing we don’t have to seek to do more, and we don’t have to seek to do better.”
You can read the full statement here.
