Dark Mofo's 2023 Night Mass Will Take Over 13 Stages and Three City Blocks Over Five Wild Nights
This massive party features everything from music and cocktail lounges through to punk theatre and junkyard raves.
Picking just one event to get excited about at Dark Mofo 2023 is like selecting your favourite child, niece or nephew: no matter the circumstances, no one wants to make that choice. But at Tasmania's annual winter festival, a particular shindig keeps putting its hand up, especially if you love wild affairs that run late into the evening — because anything and everything can and does happen at Night Mass.
Usually, the after-dark affair takes over the In The Hanging Garden precinct; however, this year, it's sprawling wider. In their latest big reveal after announcing Florentina Holzinger's dance theatre performance A Divine Comedy back in January, the full boundary-pushing lineup in March and a few fresh additions in mid-April, the Dark Mofo team has unveiled Night Mass' roster of talent for this year, as well as its massive footprint in the middle of downtown Hobart.
Night Mass. Photo Credit: Dark Mofo/Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
In 2023, Night Mass will take over three city blocks, naming the space District X. Within its confines, there'll be 13 stages hosting a hefty list of acts, all in an area that'll have a capacity of 4500 — and take place over five nights across two weekends.
Those dates: Friday, June 9–Sunday, June 11, and then Friday, June 16–Saturday, June 17. On offer: everything from music and cocktail lounges through to punk theatre and junkyard raves.
Plaid | Dark Mofo 2023. Image courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo.
Dark Mofo has dubbed the event Night Mass: Exstasia for 2023 and, as curator Mason Browne explains, "Extasia embraces the notion of radical entropy and exultation; that primordial desire to assume a Dionysic state. We want the Night Mass audience to journey through it being surprised, delighted, disgusted, aroused and alarmed."
Attendees can also expect art, performances, cinema cabarets, games arcades, tarot readings, plenty of places to eat and drink, and fire beacons lighting the way.
Night Mass. Photo Credit: Dark Mofo/Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
District X will be split into themed precincts, spanning Walpurgisnacht in Bidencopes Lane, Underground Cinema and The Grand Poobah; The Boneyard in Watchorn Street and Harrington Lane, and their car parks; Urban Dystopia in Liverpool Street; Origins in the Cathedral and In The Hanging Garden; and Event Horizon in Odeon Theatre and its labyrinth. There's also Nachtlicker, which is concept from Alex Podger (Altar, High Altar).
On the bill: folks such as Desire Marea, dameeeela, Amnesia Scanner, Violent Magic Orchestra and Mahne Frame, as well as Ms Boogie, Prison Religion, Pelada, Marie Davidson and Moktar.
Debby Friday | Dark Mofo 2023. Image courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo.
Run by Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art, and taking place in Hobart between Thursday, June 8–Thursday, June 22, Dark Mofo also includes The Blue Rose Ball, which does indeed take its cues from the one and only David Lynch; Giant Teddy, EJ Son's towering Korean pop culture-inspired teddy bear that has lasers for eyes; Max Richter's SLEEP, which returns to Australia for an eight-and-a-half-hour overnight stint; and Soda Jerk's latest film Hello Dankness. The list goes on from there, whether you're keen on live tunes, the kind of shows you won't see elsewhere or nude solstice swims.
Keen to make the most of it? Concrete Playground Trips' Dark Mofo accommodation package might come in handy — and yes, it includes Night Mass tickets.
Kinder | Dark Mofo 2023. Photo courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
DARK MOFO'S NIGHT MASS: EXSTASIA LINEUP:
Amnesia Scanner
Aqueerius
Arcana
Arunya Lee Olive
Axon Breeze
Aya Gloomy
Ayebatonye
Bambii
Big Wett
Brixx
Buzz Kull
CaucasianOpportunities
Claire O'Brien
CORIN
dameeeela
Dane Blacklock & The Preacher's Daughter
Debby Friday
Desire Marea
Elisabeth Dixon
Eris & The Disciples
Estée Louder
Fabian B
IN2STELLAR
Jacqui Cunningham
JLaw
Joey Labeija
Kangding Ray
Kasimyn
Kinder
Laurel Halo
Lips Service
Liquid Nails
L$F
Mahne Frame
Makeda
Marie Davidson
Mobiletti Giradischi
Moktar
Ms Boogie
Nabihah Iqbal (DJ Set)
Nooriyah
OKENYO
ONYX
Our Carlson
Pelada
Prison Religion
Real Lies
SI Process
Simona Castricum
SMB8
Sote & Tarik Barri
SOVBLKPSSY
Stev Zar
Stormworm
Sveta
The Riot
Tjaka
Trophie
V
VACUUM
Varg2™
Violent Magic Orchestra
Vv Pete
Winternationale
WÖØLWORTHS\\FLUSHOT
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Dark Mofo 2023 runs from Thursday, June 8–Thursday, June 22 in Hobart, Tasmania, with tickets on sale now.
Top images: Night Mass, Dark Mofo 2019. Photo Credit: Dark Mofo/Jesse Hunniford, 2019. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. // Stev Zar | Dark Mofo 2023. Image courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo. // dameeeela | Dark Mofo 2023. Image courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo.
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