The Tasmanian capital of Hobart is extremely quiet for virtually every weekend of winter.
Hotels have empty rooms; restaurants bemoan empty tables.
So the announcement on November 3 that crowd-pulling Dark Mofo, Australia's mid-winter solstice festival, would return to Hobart from Thursday June 11 to Monday June 22 universally welcomed.
Alongside the festival’s large-scale public art installations, will be live performances and exclusive musical acts.
Dark Mofo 2026 will also include familiar rituals: Winter Feast, Night Mass, the Ogoh-Ogoh burning and the Nude Solstice Swim.
Hotels will be full; bars and restaurants heaving.
That only leaves a dozen other weekends when Hobart's tourism operators would welcome some help from other events.
What a wasted opportunity then that after the hapless Tasmanian Government paid a million dollars for Richmond to play one home AFL game in Hobart in 2026, the AFL last week announced its fixture list.
Sure enough, the AFL chose Sunday, June 14, for the Hobart match between Richmond and reigning AFL premiers Brisbane.
Accommodation will be at a premium; many flights will be full with Dark Mofo attendees and any remaining seats will be priced stratospherically.
So who stuffed up? Jane Howlett, minister for tourism and events will plead ignorance. Dark Mofo will say it had announced its dates well in advance.
The AFL, one of the most arrogant sporting bodies on the planet, is unlikely to give a damn.
There will be two victims. The Tasmanian tourism industry. And interstate fans of Richmond and Brisbane. Just another stuff up. A shrug of the shoulders, Just move on.
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