In the dark over park

DARK Park as we know it is over with Macquarie Point no longer able to offer the spaces to make the popular nighttime event work, festival director Leigh Carmichael says.

A decision to lease out the site’s SeaRoad Shed, making it unavailable to Dark Mofo from next year, means the family-friendly art park will almost certainly be lost to Hobart after four years.

Mr Carmichael said the shed’s unavailability came on top of the demolition of the old cold store on the site and the conversion of the Red Shed into a brewery.

The use of the site as a car- park had also made it less usable, he said.

“Dark Park as we know it, at this stage, is over,” he said.

“We haven’t ruled out trying to find a way but at this stage I can’t see Dark Park going ahead, in that format anyway.”

The former railyard site’s mix of free light shows, soundscapes and burning rituals has become the festival’s most popular attraction.

It attracted 98,000 visitors over this month’s Dark Mofo festival, including 22,000 last Saturday night. The festival has spent up to $2 million on the event each year.

Mr Carmichael said staging art outdoors was expensive.

“It’s not really Dark Park if there’s not any art,” he said.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with the 100,000 people who go through there and where we can send them.

“We’re looking at the Domain, but it’s mostly outdoors.

“Without Dark Park there’s a pretty big hole in the festival — it’s our most accessible, family-friendly component.”

He said the final night burning of the ogoh-ogoh may still take place at Macquarie Point. The Macquarie Point Development Corporation had flagged the possibility of a new shed, he said.

But the disappearance of the site’s buildings had added to a venue squeeze in Hobart that had also resulted in the loss of MAC1, the Melville St carpark and 12 Murray St.

Mona is involved in efforts to preserve the Odeon Theatre and Tatts Hotel, while the future of other Dark Mofo venues such as the Avalon Theatre was unknown.

“It’s a bit of a shame that it’s culture and art that’s creating this kind of reinvigorated life in the city and it’s being squeezed out by development,” Mr Carmichael said.

The State Government announced this week it would enshrine the Truth and Reconciliation Art Park vision for Macquarie Point in legislation. MPDC chief executive Mary Massina said the in- volvement of the festival had fostered community access to the site.

“Obviously as Mac Point transitions from the remediation phase into the development and investment phase we will need to discuss what impacts that may have,” she said.

“But we look forward to working with Dark Mofo to ensure that Mac Point continues to be the home of the popular Dark Park event.”

Dark Mofo organisers yesterday revealed a 60 per cent increase in ticket sales this year, with 80,000 sold — 60 per cent to interstate patrons.

Some 87,000 people went to the Winter Feast and 98,000 to Dark Park.