Mona Foma producer Lee Cumberlidge said the festival was looking to work with food, transport, accommodation, and tourism businesses. 

“It’s all part of our strategy to activate Launceston, and to engage more deeply in the community,” he said. 

“It’s a chance for anybody who operates a business in Northern Tasmanian to come along and hear about the development of the Mona Foma brand in Launceston.”

Mona Foma is the Museum of Modern Art’s summer music and arts festival, moving to Launceston this year with the program to launch October 12.

Mr Cumberlidge said they weren’t expecting what worked in Hobart to work in Launceston, and that they were aiming to curate a festival typical of Mona’s boundary-pushing brand, in a way that was suitable for the north. 

“For us it’s the next in a line of reinventions of the festival,” he said of the move to Launceston. 

“With the development of Mona and Dark Mofo as well, we really wanted to develop a new concept for the festival, so we’ve moved it and reestablished it in different ways.

“It’s an exciting challenge for us to engage more broadly in Tasmania than just in Hobart.”

The industry engagement night will take place at Queen Victoria Museum on September 19 with drinks at 5.30pm before discussions from 6pm to 7pm, free but with an RSVP to angelique.brcic@mofo.net.au.