Popular Hobart winter festival Dark Mofo will be put on ice next year as organisers target a shift to a more sustainable event amid rising costs.
They intend the festival to return fully in 2025 and "set the foundation for the next 10 years".
The drawcard winter feast and nude solstice swim will still go ahead in 2024 as part of an agreement with the Tasmanian government.
The festival says despite record attendance and box office sales this year, it must "take stock of changing conditions and rising costs" and reset for the future.
Dark Mofo artistic director Chris Twite said it had been a difficult decision.
"It’s not something we’ve entered into lightly but it is what we have decided to do to ensure the future of the festival," he told reporters on Friday.
More than 400,000 people flocked to the 2023 Dark Mofo, which showcased 400 artists in 65 events at 35 venues.
Some performances had to be relocated after record-breaking early ticket sales, which generated $5.5 million for the festival box office.
Twite said the state government had been proactive in offering solutions to proceed with the festival in 2024.
"We are thankful for the support and assistance that the state government has shown in response to our need to reshape for the future," Twite said.
"Dark Mofo has always been dedicated to enriching and transforming lives through ambitious art and ideas.
"We want to make sure that we have a festival that continues to deliver incredible art and artists."
The state government in September 2021 announced a three-year deal providing $7.5 million to the festival.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government would work closely with the organisers about plans for a return in 2025.
The Museum of Old and New Art plans to open a major new exhibit in winter next year.
Dark Mofo has often courted controversy, including in 2018 when inverted Christian crosses were installed along Hobart's waterfront.
In 2021, it was forced to pull the pin on work that asked Indigenous people to contribute blood after a backlash labelling the piece insensitive and disrespectful.
Twite has replaced Leigh Carmichael, who stepped down as artistic director after this year's festival having held the role since the inaugural event in 2013.
