Dark Mofo 2026: Your guide to free, fringe and last-minute fun

Dark Mofo (11-22 June) draws the big headliners every year and tickets sell fast. But even if you've just booked the one gig, there’s a ton of free and last-minute fun to have in Hobart, from festival rituals to fringe events and all-night parties. You can always check for last minute tickets on the program, but whichever weekend you’ve landed on, there’s so much to explore even if you haven’t made plans. Feast on art and food, see captivating performances, find cocktail popups and night noodles or just warm yourself by the flames of Ogoh-Ogoh.

Here’s your ultimate guide to everything free, last-minute and fringe to discover in Hobart and beyond during Dark Mofo.

Embrace the dark arts

Image Credit: Dark Mofo

Free art is a huge part of Dark Mofo’s program. Dark Park is a sprawling playground of intriguing and provoking artworks, spreading from shore into the body of the Spirit of Tasmania V ferry. Autonomous robo-dogs prowl, a witchy, broom-like sculpture swings endlessly, words of pain are illuminated, visions of resistance and fear are projected and a shifting cloud of sound and light swirls in Boris Acket's Soundspace. Aside from a few installations on the Spirit of Tasmania V, it's family friendly. Weird, but friendly. Back in town, Basilica comes to life: a deconsecrated stone church filled with the ash rain of Gabriel Lester's ‘The Sky Caving In’ (plus a little outdoor bar for a chillout sesh).

Burn your fears in the solstice fire

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Who doesn’t love a good bonfire? The grand finale of the second week (not counting the Nude Swim), is the burning of the Ogoh-Ogoh. One of the most honoured and anticipated festival rituals, it echoes the Balinese tradition. The effigy represents an enormous endangered Tasmanian animal each year (it’s the Pedra Branca Skink, this time) and festival-goers are invited to drop their handwritten fears in. On 21 June, gather in the darkness and follow the procession to the burning site at the Regatta Grounds, watching as old fears go up in flames for the solstice. 

Feast on the state's finest

Image Credit: Dark Mofo | Photographer: Dearna Bond

The Winter Feast is an epic showcase of Tasmanian chefs, producers, winemakers and more. Taste the best of the state, with abalone from Anneliese Gregory, bull kelp arancini from David Moyle, black truffle garlic cheese bread, local olive oil ice cream and, of course, the ever-intriguing possum bao buns (if you’re game). This year’s celeb collab is with Michelin-starred chef Floriano Pellegrino of Bros’ in Puglia and local cult fave artisan bakery MAMA. Expect a little gastronomy, some pastry fusion and a kissable amuse bouche.

Or just fill up on wintery goodness, like a beef bourguignon doughnut with Future Perfect pinot, or a blood-red cherry pie (tip: pair it with a hot buttered whisky) and meat fresh and sizzling from the Heavy Metal Kitchen flames. There’s more than enough wine, whisky and cocktails to keep you buzzing, with fires to cosy up to and live entertainment. Under 16s get free entry with a parent or guardian and on Sunday 21 June, everyone gets in free!

Missed Night Mass tickets? A mysterious party venue, Help me Through the World, is also popping up. Door sales only, they’ve revealed nothing yet, but in Mofo style it promises to be so much more than just a bar…

Witness live performance art

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Mofo has free, unticketed performance art scattered throughout the program. First in, best dressed. Dancers gyrate and writhe before five laptop computer cams in SOLAS (18-21 June), their bodies broadcast and commodified. Mexican artist Kiyo Gutiérrez holds two Australian-exclusive durational performances exploring the violence of borders: Un muro que parte el cuerpo en dos (A wall that breaks the body in two) on 13 June and Hairline Border on 19 June. For Times of War (Darkness) on 20 June, Regina José Galindo lies naked, slowly swallowed by the dark. See a tense human sculpture in Ruben Bellinkx’s Stasis across both weekends (11-14 and 18-21 June). And New Zealand endurance artist Kalisolaite ‘Uhila’s performance Fakahoko (12-14, 18-21 June) is the only one that comes with a splash warning.

Catch a movie

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Sculpt: Eye of the Duck is a jewel of the 2026 Mofo program, Volume 2 of a rarely seen cinematic work by French conceptual artist Loris Gréaud. Nine viewings a day for ten days, one watcher at a time. No booking, you have to queue for tickets from 9am. One for the cinephiles and curious minds.

Dark Mofo Films run all through the festival at the State Cinema. It’s an eclectic program, from the seat-gripping suspense of Uncut Gems to Australian cult classics, like the wild-boar horror Razorback and tender indie film Somersault, stories of skinheads in Danny Boyle’s This Is England, with a little crime drama, some queer sensuality and everything weird, wonderful or underground.
 

Explore Exhibitions

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Mofo doesn’t rest during daylight. The State Library and Archives of Tasmania will uncover the arcana in All The Fires Come Alive, with esoteric and occult texts and artistic responses. Contemporary Art Tasmania becomes home to TrunkMan - SGB, a strange wonderland journey through mythical landscapes with supernatural beings (very family friendly!), and Rosny Barn is transformed into a space of menace for the snarl of The Dogs.

By night, the unheard and unspoken is amplified in What Did You Say? at UTAS Centre for the Arts. Head to Good Grief Studios for Tactus, a collaborative sound installation, Plimsoll Gallery for If We're Being Honest, a multi-sensory exhibition where the audience takes part, and experience the anxious creep of Indigenous haunting in Eternity the Butterfly.

Make the trip to Mona

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Mona’s always worth a ferry ride, but they go extra hard during Mofo. Hang out in Mona’s Sex + Death Day Club and catch some ridiculously good musical acts, wander in the Anselm Kiefer’s Elektra to hear British ensemble The Gesualdo Six fill the space with song, see geological time and nature in Julian Charriére’s Hard Core and keep an eye on the Lawns live music lineup too.

Keep the party going

Image Credit: Natty Waves | Instagram

There's more than Mofo on the cards. Everyone in Hobart is here to party. Grab a spot on Natty Waves, the floating natural wine bar. Linger at MARIA for vinyl DJs and Mediterranean-inspired snacks at ‘Amalfi After Dark’ sessions on Fridays and Saturdays. For cocktail lovers, there's a Spanish-style Four Pillars popup (and DJ sessions) at La Sardina Loca and a Negroni Bar at The Stagg Midtown coffee shop. Bar Wa Izakaya is serving up steaming bowls of midnight ramen, 19-20 June, staying open late and slinging noods from 11pm until 1am, with one-off specials and snacks. Fico is getting in on the fun with a Midnight Spaghetti collab with the Tipo 00 crew on 20 June: snacks, pasta, risotto, wine and DJs (Tipo 00 are also doing a pasta takeover at Pitzi the next day). Lost in Asia is running the super early shift with a party from 5am on 14 and 21 June - then from midday, Ticcle Club takes over.

The fun doesn’t stop after the festival: From 26-28 June, step into the Waiting Room, an immersive art-and-cocktail pairing experience at Somewhere Coffee Bar, with a ‘Cosmic 8-Ball’ theme.

And if you’re catching Baker Boy or Folk Bitch Trip up north in Launceston, have a snack splurge at Stillwater, $95 for two people. Enjoy a selection of little bites with a glass of premium Tassie sparkling each.