Dark Mofo Cancels Launceston Expansion Plans

Plans to hold Tasmanian arts and music festival Dark Mofo in the northern region of Launceston have been cancelled today, with organisers admitting it was "highly unlikely the event would survive past the inaugural year."

The event, which will return to its initial home of Hobart again in 2014, announced the expansion plans for Launceston just last month, with Mofo to take place in the region from Friday 20 June to Saturday 5 July.

However, festival Creative Director Leigh Carmichael said today in a statement that Dark Mofo had been "unable to develop a sustainable business model" for the second location.

“It is our strong belief that the event would not be able to deliver the economic and social outcomes that an investment of public money of this size should expect, and it is highly unlikely the event would survive past the inaugural year. Given the resources required to make the event happen, we believe proceeding at this point would be an irresponsible use of public funds.

“While we are optimistic about the opportunity, our expansion was conditional on two things; firstly, that we could secure enough financial support, and secondly that it would have no detrimental impact on the Hobart event.

“While we do believe that a major cultural event in Launceston throughout winter to complement the AFL games is extremely important, in order for this strategy to work, it would need to be underpinned by a major three-month winter exhibition in order to stretch the drawing power of the investment beyond a three-day core period. The absence of this essential element has been a major contributing factor for our decision to withdraw."

Carmichael didn't rule out possibly taking Mofo or a similar event to Launceston sometime in the future.

“We hope to continue to work with the State Government, Launceston City Council, QVMAG, Tourism Northern Tasmania, local business, key stakeholders, and community to expand on the Dark Mofo concept with the hope of delivering a major northern Tasmanian event in the future.”

The event, now in its second year, will take place in Hobart from Thursday 12 to Sunday 22 June. The line-up will be revealed on Friday 11 April so stay tuned to theMusic.com.au for that.