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Tasmania's Dark Mofo Festival Has Been Cancelled Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

Tasmania's Dark Mofo Festival Has Been Cancelled Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

'What happened? Fear is what happened,' festival founder David Walsh said

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Tasmania's Dark Mofo festival has been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The arts and music festival has been running for seven years thanks to Tassie's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).

But MONA founder David Walsh says 2020's event will have to be put on hold because of concerns surrounding Covid-19.

Walsh said in a statement that these concerns were 'killing Dark Mofo'.

"What happened? Fear is what happened," he said.

"That fear is compelled by uncertainty. Fear is the right response. And that right response means we would have trouble selling tickets to Dark Mofo events, also.

"It's likely that nothing will happen. June will roll up, Covid-19 will die down, and I'll look like a fool for having cancelled.

"But that's the best thing that could happen.

Mark Pazolli/Flickr

"The worst thing that could happen is not me trashing my cash. We could soldier on, without consideration or advantage, have the crowd turn up anyway, and send them home sick.

"But that wouldn't be the worst thing, either. 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."

Mr Walsh said the festival will likely be held next year 'assuming, that is, another black swan doesn't cause another white elephant'.

It follows another massive festival cancellation in America after Coachella told punters it was being moved from April to October.

Organisers have decided to put the festival on hold for a few months while world governments attempt to regain control of the virus.

The event is one of the most hotly-anticipated festivals of the year, with the likes of Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean, Dave, Hot Chip, and Little Nas X set to perform at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, this April.

However, with the number of cases of the virus rising to more than 116,000 and over 4,000 having died, the decision was taken to move it to the weekends of 9-11 and 16-18 October.

Stagecoach, another music festival due to be held in California, will take place on the weekend of 23-25 October.

People who are unable to attend the festival will be offered refunds.

Last week, Texas' music industry gathering South by Southwest announced that it was cancelling this year's event, with festival organisers saying the decision was utterly devastating.

Featured Image Credit: Dark Mofo/Instagram

Topics: News, coronavirus, Australia

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