Wintermania
Tasmania is warm and welcoming over winter, with a calendar jam-packed with festivals, the arts and celebrations of its unique customs and culture.
07 May 2021
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Darkness is a place and that place is in Tasmania. Dark MOFO, that is! The world-famous festival celebrating the dark and its place in myth, legend, art and culture.
Dark Mofo is a captivating midwinter festival unlike any other.
Skewing strange and awry, visitors will find offbeat theatre productions alongside retrospectives of classic films, light shows and late openings of the lauded local museum, Mona, which the festival runs in conjunction with.
So, while we can’t jet off to summer in Greece, why not head for a nude solstice swim and some other nocturnal revelry in Hobart.
Yet there’s plenty more than Dark MOFO happening in Tasmania this winter. The experts at First Class Travel share their top travel advice for exploring the best of Tassie’s most popular winter festivals.
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Dark Mofo
16 to 22 June 2021, Hobart
Celebrate the dark through large-scale public art, food, music, fire, light and noise. The festival will explore the links between ancient and contemporary mythology, humans and nature, darkness and light, birth and death.
Signature events: Winter Feast on the waterfront, Ogoh-Ogoh parade and burning, and the Nude Solstice Swim, welcoming back the light after the longest night. New major art and music precincts around the city, dialling up the artistic noise, experimental rock, synthwave, black metal, psych-folk, and a lot more.
Festival of Voices
30 June to 11 July 2021, Hobart
Sing it loud and sing it warm. Festival of Voices reclaims the space that celebrates the human spirit through the joy of song. Attend one of the many masterclasses on offer or don the puffer and huddle in a Covid-safe fashion around the bonfire for the big sing that magically transforms a crowd into a choir.
Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival
16 & 17 July 2021, Willie Smith’s Apple Shed, Huonville
Venture down to the Huon Valley to Willie Smith’s Apple Shed to gather around the fire, dance and feast to celebrate the region’s rich apple growing history.
Dress up in your finest tatters, bring your pots and pans and make a noise to scare away the evil spirits from the orchard so the next season brings abundance.
Tasmanian Whisky Week
9 to 15 August 2021
A wee dram to say goodbye to the winter cold and beckon the warmer months of spring. Sample or indulge from the plethora of fine Tasmanian whiskies that will be the stars of their own special events.
There’s a reason that Tasmanian is home to internationally acclaimed and gold medal whiskies so come and find out why.
Beaker Street Festival
14 to 22 August 2021, Hobart and Launceston
Beaker Street is a not-for-profit organisation in Tasmania that exists to promote the intersection of art and science. Their flagship event, Beaker Street Festival, is a celebration of this intersection and takes place around Tasmania with their hub at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
This year the program will include: Science photography prize exhibition, Festival hub with roving scientists, workshops, live music and Tasmanian food and drink, Tasmanian Science Road Trip and Astronomy talks, cocktails and live music at the Dark Sky Party.
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