WINTER IS JUST GETTING WARMED UP
AS THE smoke clears on a hugely successful Dark Mofo festival, all that remains now is for a few hundred brave souls to bare all on Wednesday morning in the Nude Solstice Swim.
The end of Covid restrictions has made this year’s event one of the most anticipated and judging from the early numbers, crowds have once again embraced the warmth and quirkiness of the festival, returning in droves.
Hotels have been filled and pubs and restaurants overflowing as puffer-clad tourists and locals have swarmed into the city to take part in the magical atmosphere highlighted by fire and lights.
It would be easy to think that the end of Dark Mofo will be a time when we all retreat back into the cosy warmth of our homes, but as our bumper guide in TasWeekend on Saturday shows, the winter highlights in Tassie are far from over.
The amplifiers will have barely cooled from the big Dark Mofo concerts when music will once again fill the crisp night air as The Festival of Voices returns to Hobart on July 1.
Once a three-day event, it now runs for 10 days and attracts 30,000 people. This year, Marcia Hines, Lior and Monica Trapaga headline a series of ticketed concerts and workshops.
There are plenty of free events too, none bigger than the Big Sing bonfire in Salamanca Place on Saturday July 2.
Not long after the music dies down in the city, the season of music and feasting shifts a little south when the Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival kicks off over the weekend of July 15-17. Centred at Grove, cider flows freely as the region’s apple-growing heritage is celebrated.
Fire also features, with a big bonfire and the burning of a huge effigy to ward off evil spirits from the orchards.
Not long after that is the 10-day Beaker Street Festival from August 5 – a statewide celebration of science featuring pop-up science bars and a road trip led by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki.
The Antarctic Festival (August 24-28) follows, an event which showcases why Hobart is the major gateway for the icy continent.
Tasmanian Whisky Week (August 8-14) offers dinners, tasting and meet the maker events and the Winter Light Festival (August 11-21) will mark the end of winter with a celebration of the arts at the Salamanca Arts Centre.
The program includes live music, lantern-making, yoga and youth theatre performances.
With so much going on, it’s easy to see why Tasmania has become one of the must-visit destinations year round.
Whereas once the cold, dark and long winter nights gave us all a reason to hibernate until spring, now there’s no excuse not to get out and enjoy the season.