Queens Of The Stone Age, TISM, Courtney Barnett & More Announced For MONA FOMA 2024

The team behind Tasmania’s biggest music festival, MONA FOMA, have today unveiled the full program for next year’s edition.

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Promising “17 days of summer mayhem”, the bi-city celebration – named for the Museum of Old and New Art in the Berriedale peninsula – will run from Thursday February 15 to Sunday 25 in nipaluna/Hobart, with an extra day of programming set for Saturday March 2 in kanamaluka/Launceston.

Highlights from the first weekend of programming include a career-defining performance from Queens Of The Stone Age – their first Tasmanian appearance in six years – as well as a show from Courtney Barnett where she’ll plays two sets (one instrumentally alongside Warpaint icon Stella Mozgawa), and two nights with Paul Kelly, over which he’ll perform last year’s Time compilation in full.

MONA FOMA’s second weekend will sport the return of the legendary Mona Sessions showcase, returning to the MONA lawns with a stellar lineup that includes international icons like Mogwai (from Scotland), Irreversible Entanglements (from the US), Holy Fuck (from Canada) and Shonen Knife (from Japan), as well as local legends like Little Ugly Girls, Kutcha Edwards and Koi Kingdom. Also notable is Wayfinder – the latest installation from Townsville’s Dancenorth – which features music from Hiatus Kaiyote and design from visual artist Hiromi Tango.

Finally, MONA FOMA 2024 will climax with “a free, high-octane sonic experience” at Cataract Gorge in Launceston, featuring live sets from the likes of TISM, Cash Savage And The Last Drinks, Mulga Bore Hard Rock, and an extra-special linking up between FFLORA and Grace Ghia.

In a press release, Brian Ritchie – MONA FOMA’s artistic director, and the founding multi-instrumentalist of the Violent Femmes – said of this year’s wide-spanning program: “MONA FOMA wrangles over 500 performers and artists from places as far flung as Nigeria, Taiwan, Rajasthan and Launceston into a veritable orgy of creativity. If you can’t find something to do, then you’re dead – but then you wouldn’t be reading this. So, buy tickets, except for TISM, which is free. One of the most reclusive bands (only three gigs in twenty years) for free in amongst the most unique water feature of any urban environment, qualifies as a once in a lifetime opportunity. Carpe diem.”

Tickets for next year’s MONA FOMA go on sale at 10am next Tuesday (November 21) – head here to find them, and see all the details on the full live music program.