American annual film and music festival held in Austin
This article is about the annual festival. For other uses, see South🔑 by Southwest (disambiguation)
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of🔑 parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas, United🔑 States. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both scope and size every year. In 2024, the conference🔑 lasted for 10 days with the interactive track lasting for five days, music for seven days, and film for nine🔑 days. There was no in-person event in 2024 and 2024 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, Texas;[1][2]🔑 in both years there was a smaller online event instead.[3]
SXSW is run by the company SXSW, LLC, which organizes conferences,🔑 trade shows, festivals, and other events.[4] In addition to SXSW, the company runs the conference SXSW EDU and the SXSW🔑 Sydney festival (from 2024, in Sydney, Australia) and co-runs North by Northeast in Toronto. It has previously run or co-run🔑 the events North by Northwest (1995–2001), West by Southwest (2006–2010), SXSW Eco (2011–2024), SXSW V2V (2013–2024), and the me Convention🔑 (2024–2024). In addition, a large number of other events, past and present, sometimes collectively referred to as "four-letter festivals", have🔑 been inspired by SXSW.[5]
The Austin Convention Center in Downtown Austin functions as the "hub" of the festival; most events associated🔑 with the festival take place at venues in and around Downtown Austin.[6]
In April 2024, Penske Media Corporation purchased a 50%🔑 stake in SXSW.[7]
Divisions [ edit ]
A view of 6th Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW 2013
Music [ edit ]
SXSW🔑 Music is the largest music festival of its kind in the world, with more than 2,000 acts as of 2014.[8]🔑 SXSW Music offers artist-provided music and video samples of featured artists at each festival via their official YouTube channel.[9][10]
The music🔑 event has grown from 700 registrants in 1987, the first year of the conference, to over 161,000 attendees in 2024.[11]🔑 SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events have grown every year, bringing over 32,000 registrants to Austin in March 2013.[12]
Bands must🔑 cover their own expenses for travel and lodging at the event. All performers are offered a cash payment or a🔑 wristband package that allows access to all music events.[13]
Film [ edit ]
SXSW Film Conference spans five days of conference panels🔑 and sessions, and welcomes filmmakers of all levels. Programming consists of keynote speakers, panels, workshops, mentor sessions and more, with🔑 expert filmmakers and industry leaders.[14]
In 2024, the SXSW Film Conference programmed over 250 sessions with 735 speakers. Past speakers included🔑 Jon Favreau, Mark Duplass, Ava DuVernay, Ryan Gosling, Nicolas Cage, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Tilda Swinton, Amy Schumer, Sally Field, Joss Whedon,🔑 Christine Vachon, RZA, Matthew McConaughey, Danny Boyle, Seth MacFarlane, Catherine Hardwicke, Richard Linklater, David Gordon Green, Harmony Korine, Henry Rollins,🔑 Sarah Green and Robert Rodriguez.[15] Although the film festival highlights independently produced films and emerging directing talent with unique visions,[16]🔑 the festival has long served studios as a barometer for their comedies, with enthusiastic fans indicating how they might play🔑 in wide release.[17]
The SXSW Film Festival runs nine days, simultaneously with the SXSW Film Conference, and celebrates raw innovation and🔑 emerging talent both behind and in front of the camera.[18] Festival programming categories include: Special Events, Headliners, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary🔑 Spotlight, Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition, Visions, Midnighters, 24 Beats Per Second, SXGlobal, Episodic, Festival Favorites, and Short Film Programs. The🔑 SXSW Film Awards, which occur on the last day of the Film Conference, honor films selected by the Feature and🔑 Short Film Juries.
In 2024, the SXSW Film Festival programmed 150 feature films and 106 short films, selected from 7,361 submissions.[19]🔑 Past world premieres included Furious 7, Neighbors, Chef, 21 Jump Street, The Cabin in the Woods, Dance of the Dead,🔑 Bridesmaids and Insidious, and the TV series Girls, Silicon Valley, and Penny Dreadful.[20]
Interactive [ edit ]
SXSW Interactive focuses on emerging🔑 technology.[21] The festival includes a trade show, speakers, parties, and a startup accelerator.[22]
History [ edit ]
SXSW employee giving an introduction🔑 of the event
Inauguration in the 1980s [ edit ]
In July 1986, the organizers of the New York City music festival🔑 New Music Seminar contacted Roland Swenson, a staffer at the alternative weekly The Austin Chronicle, to talk about organizing an🔑 extension of that festival into Austin. They thereafter announced they were going to hold a "New Music Seminar Southwest".[23] The🔑 plans did not materialize, however, so Swenson decided to instead co-organize a local music festival, with the help of two🔑 other people at the Chronicle: editor and co-founder Louis Black, and publisher Nick Barbaro. Louis Meyers, a booking agent and🔑 musician, was also brought on board.[24] Black came up with the name, as a play on the name of the🔑 Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest. (While Southwest by South is an actual point on a compass, South by Southwest🔑 is not.[25])
The event was first held in March 1987. The organizers considered it a regional event and expected around 150🔑 attendees to show up, but over 700 came, and according to Black "it was national almost immediately."[26] Meyers left Austin🔑 and the festival in the early 1990s, but Black, Barbaro and Swenson remained the festival's key organizers as of 2010.[26]
1990s🔑 [ edit ]
Singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked was the keynote speaker at the 1992 South by Southwest. She caused controversy by delivering🔑 a speech, written by her then-husband Bart Bull, criticizing white musicians for stealing music from African American artists; and then🔑 later during the same conference when she tried to kick the band Two Nice Girls off of a benefit concert,🔑 a move that some called anti-gay, due to Two Nice Girls' overtly lesbian image.[27]
In 1993, SXSW moved into the Austin🔑 Convention Center, where it is still held.[28]
In 1994, SXSW added a component for film and other media, named the "SXSW🔑 Film and Multimedia Conference".[26] Johnny Cash was the keynote speaker.[29]
That year, the three brothers of the band Hanson were brought🔑 to SXSW by their father in order to perform impromptu auditions for music executives, in the hopes of getting industry🔑 attention. Among the people who heard them was A&R executive Christopher Sabec, who became their manager, and would soon afterward🔑 get them signed to Mercury Records.[30]
In 1995, the SXSW Film and Multimedia Conference was split into two separate events, "SXSW🔑 Film" and "SXSW Multimedia".[26] In 1999, SXSW Multimedia was renamed "SXSW Interactive".[26]
2000s [ edit ]
Singer-songwriter John Mayer's performance at the🔑 2000 SXSW Music festival led to his signing soon thereafter with Aware Records, his first record label.
A performance by the🔑 band The Polyphonic Spree at the 2002 SXSW Music festival helped bring them to national attention before they had signed🔑 with a major label.[31]
At the 2002 SXSW Film Festival, the film Manito won the jury award for narrative feature, while🔑 the documentary Spellbound won the jury award for documentary feature.
British singer James Blunt was discovered by producer Linda Perry while🔑 playing a small show at the 2004 SXSW Music festival, and was signed to Perry's Custard Records soon thereafter,[32] where🔑 he would go on to release all three of his subsequent albums.
The 2005 SXSW Film is considered by some to🔑 be the origin of the mumblecore film genre. A number of films now classified as mumblecore, including The Puffy Chair,🔑 Kissing on the Mouth, Four Eyed Monsters and Mutual Appreciation, were screened, and Eric Masunaga, a musician and the sound🔑 editor on Mutual Appreciation, is credited with coining the term "mumblecore" at a bar while at the festival.[33]
The film Hooligans🔑 won both the Feature Film Jury Award and the Feature Film Audience Award for narrative feature, while The Puffy Chair🔑 won the Feature Film Audience Award in the "Emerging Visions" category. The documentary film Cowboy del Amor won the SXSW🔑 Competition Award and the Audience Award.
A secret concert at the 2006 SXSW Music by the band The Flaming Lips was🔑 called one of the "Top 10 Music-Festival Moments" of all time by Time magazine in 2010.[34]
The 2006 SXSW Interactive featured🔑 a keynote panel of Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.[35]
That year, "Screenburn at SXSW", a component for🔑 video games, was added to SXSW Interactive.[26]
2007 [ edit ]
The 2007 music festival took place from March 14 to 18,🔑 and more than 1,400 acts performed. Two of the top film premieres that year were Elvis and Anabelle and Skills🔑 Like This.
The social media platform Twitter notably gained a good deal of early traction and buzz at the 2007 SXSW🔑 Interactive,[36] though it did not launch at SXSW 2007 as is sometimes reported.[26]
2008 [ edit ]
The 2008 SXSW Interactive got🔑 media attention due to a keynote interview of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg by technology journalist Sarah Lacy that was considered🔑 by some observers to be a "train wreck" due to an audience perception that Lacy was asking uninteresting questions, as🔑 well as mocking or terse answers in response from Zuckerberg.[37]
In 2008, a comedy element was added to SXSW; it was🔑 held for one night. (By 2012, comedy performances occurred on all nights of the festival.)[38]
2009 [ edit ]
The 2009 festival🔑 was held March 13–22. The Interactive section of SXSW in particular drew larger attendance levels; the influx strained the networks🔑 of providers such as AT&T (primarily due to heavy iPhone usage).[39] Also new was the founding of an international organization🔑 for those not attending, dubbed NotAtSXSW. Coordinating through Twitter and other online tools, notatsxsw events were held in London, New🔑 York, Wisconsin, Portland, Oregon and Miami.[40]
The mobile app, Foursquare, was launched at SXSW 2009.
The 2009 SXSW Interactive saw the launch🔑 of the Foursquare application, which was called "the breakout mobile app" of the event by the Mashable blog.[41]
In 2009 the🔑 first Indian classical music artists performed at SXSW: Canadians Cassius Khan and Amika Kushwaha.
The 2009 SXSW Film screened 250 films,🔑 including 54 world premieres. The event was notable for having the United States premiere of the film The Hurt Locker,🔑 which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2010.[26] The winners of the feature jury awards🔑 were, for documentary feature, 45365, and for narrative feature, Made in China.[42]
2010s [ edit ]
2010 [ edit ]
The 2010 music🔑 festival, which took place March 12–21, was dedicated to Alex Chilton, who died shortly before he was to perform with🔑 Big Star.[43] A tribute concert was performed in his honor on March 20, 2010.[44]
At the 2010 festival, nearly 2,000 bands🔑 were officially scheduled to perform,[45] and festival reps estimated that over 13,000 industry representatives attended.[46] Though traditionally the Austin Music🔑 Awards kick off the festival, that year organizers slated it as the closing act. Local musician Bob Schneider earned 6🔑 awards, including Song of the Year, Singer of the Year, and Band of the Year (with Lonelyland.)[45] The 2010 festival🔑 was also notable for appearances by the surviving members of the band Moby Grape.[47]
At the 2010 Film festival, Magnolia Pictures🔑 bought the film rights to the science-fiction film Monsters on the night it screened, in what was the first-ever "overnight🔑 acquisition" at SXSW. Journalist Meredith Melnick of Time magazine called this purchase a turning point for SXSW, leading to a🔑 greater interest among film studio executives in attending the festival in person.[48] That year also saw the premiere of the🔑 indie favorite Tiny Furniture, which won the award for Best Narrative Feature.
The 2010 Interactive festival had an estimated 12–13,000 paying🔑 attendees, which represented a 40% jump over the previous year.[49] This was the first year in which the interactive festival's🔑 attendance surpassed the music festival's.[49] The keynote presentation was an interview of then-Twitter CEO Evan Williams by Umair Haque, an🔑 interview that many in the audience found disappointingly superficial.[50] Also during the interactive festival, the first-ever (and so far only)🔑 "Hive Awards For the Unsung Heroes of the Internet" were held.
2011 [ edit ]
The 2011 SXSW festival ran from March🔑 11 to 20.
The keynote presenter for SXSW Interactive was Seth Priebatsch, founder and CEO of the mobile-gaming platform SCVNGR.[51] The🔑 2011 Interactive festival was by far the largest it had ever been, with an estimated 20,000 attendees.[52]
Also in attendance at🔑 SXSW was boxing legend Mike Tyson, promoting his new iPhone game with RockLive at the Screenburn Arcade.[53]
At least two films🔑 screened at the SXSW Film festival gained distribution deals: the documentary Undefeated (which went on to win the Academy Award🔑 for Best Documentary Feature) and the thriller The Divide. As a result, film critic Christopher Kelly wrote that in 2011,🔑 SXSW Film went from being "a well-regarded but fundamentally regional event" to having "joined the big leagues of film festivals🔑 around the world."[54] That festival was also notable for having the premiere of the film Bridesmaids.[55]
The March 15 screening of🔑 the Foo Fighters documentary Back and Forth was followed by a surprise live performance by the band itself, with a🔑 setlist that included the entirety of the then-upcoming album Wasting Light.[56]
2012 [ edit ]
SXSW 2012 ran from March 9 to🔑 18.
The standout technology of the 2012 SXSW Interactive was generally stated to be "social discovery" mobile apps, which let users🔑 locate other nearby users. Social discovery apps that had a presence at SXSW included Highlight, Glancee, Sonar and Kismet.[57][58]
SXSW Film🔑 saw the premiere of two major Hollywood films: The Cabin in the Woods[59] and 21 Jump Street.[55] Two films obtained🔑 distribution deals: Girls Against Boys and The Tall Man.[60] Another film, Gimme the Loot, which won the SXSW Narrative Feature🔑 Grand Jury Prize, got a distribution deal a week after the festival.[61] Bay of All Saints received the Audience Award🔑 for Best Feature Documentary.[62]
2012 was also the first year the music portion was expanded to Tuesday. The musical festival included🔑 rappers such as Talib Kweli and Lil' Wayne, along with surprise appearances by Big Sean and Kanye West; indie bands🔑 that appeared included MENEW and The Shins. Bruce Springsteen was the keynote speaker for the music festival.[63]
2013 [ edit ]
SXSW🔑 2013 ran from March 8 to 17.
The big-budget films The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and Evil Dead premiered at the 2013🔑 SXSW Film, and Spring Breakers had its U.S. premiere.[64] The film Short Term 12 won the grand jury award for🔑 Best Narrative Feature. The films Awful Nice, Cheap Thrills, and Haunter received distribution deals,[65] and Drinking Buddies obtained a distribution🔑 deal several days later.[66][67]
The 2013 SXSW Interactive saw another huge jump in registration, now with 30,621 paying attendees.[68] This was🔑 over three times the number that had attended in 2008 (9,000), just five years previously.[69] The keynote talk for the🔑 2013 SXSW Interactive was given by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.[70] The "Screenburn" and "Arcade" components were renamed to "SXSW Gaming"🔑 and "SXSW Gaming Expo", respectively.[71] The Interactive conference had an increased corporate presence, featuring major participation by Samsung, 3M, Target,🔑 American Airlines, Adobe Systems and AT&T, among others.[70][72] According to CNN, CBS and CNET called Grumpy Cat the undisputed "biggest🔑 star" of SXSW Interactive over Musk, Al Gore and Neil Gaiman.[73][74][75]
2014 [ edit ]
SXSW 2014 ran from March 7 to🔑 16.
SXSW Film had premieres of the big-budget films Neighbors, Veronica Mars and Chef, and Cesar Chavez had its North American🔑 premiere.[76][77] A clip for the big-budget film Godzilla was also screened. The films Space Station 76[78] and Exists got distribution🔑 deals at the festival,[77] while Fort Tilden (which won the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize) and Open Windows got distribution🔑 deals shortly afterward.[79][80]
A new section, "Episodic" (on television programming), was introduced to SXSW Film. Television series that previewed at the🔑 festival include Silicon Valley and From Dusk till Dawn: The Series. The talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taped for🔑 a week at the festival; it joined the talk show Watch What Happens: Live, which began taping at SXSW in🔑 2013.[81]
SXSW Interactive featured a keynote speech by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, via streaming video, about privacy rights. The festival also🔑 featured a talk from another famous leaker, Julian Assange, also speaking remotely.[82] Besides privacy issues, another major focus of the🔑 Interactive festival was wearable technology, including devices for augmented reality, activity tracking, identity authentication, charging cell phones and others.[83] Computerworld🔑 magazine called the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality gaming headset, the "sleeper hit" of the festival, although it was displayed🔑 not at the Interactive but at the Film portion, as part of a Game of Thrones exhibit.[84] The SXSW Gaming🔑 section introduced its SXSW Gaming Awards to recognize achievement in video and other types of gaming, which has continued through🔑 future SXSW festivals.
The keynote presenter and headline act this year for Stubb's was Lady Gaga.[85][86] To promote her upcoming album,🔑 Food, Kelis cooked and served barbecue-style food from a food truck to festival attendees.[87][88]
On March 13, 2014, a drunk driver,🔑 Rashad Charjuan Owens, drove his car into a crowd of festival attendees while trying to evade a traffic stop.[89] Two🔑 people were killed immediately, another two died later from their injuries and another 21 were injured but survived.[90] Owens was🔑 convicted of capital murder charges after a November 2024 trial in which eyewitnesses testified that about "a chaotic and harrowing🔑 scene" on the night, as hundreds of people ran and screamed as the car sped through crowds of people.[91][92] Owens🔑 was given an automatic sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.[93]
On March 15, 2014, rapper Tyler, the Creator🔑 was arrested on misdemeanor charges of "inciting to riot" after yelling to fans to push their way past security guards🔑 at a sold-out show the previous day.[94] In February 2024, the riot charges were dropped against Tyler, The Creator pursuant🔑 to a plea agreement with prosecutors (under which the rapper pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of disorderly conduct and🔑 paid aR$100 fine, with the case to be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for three months).[95] His mugshot🔑 later gained notoriety as an internet meme.
2024 [ edit ]
SXSW 2024 took place from March 13 to 22.
SXSW Film screened🔑 145 feature films, an all-time high for the festival.[96] The big-budget films Furious 7 (which was a last-minute addition to🔑 the lineup),[97] Get Hard, Spy, a rough cut of Trainwreck, Moonwalkers and The Final Girls[98] had their world premieres, as🔑 did the documentaries Danny Says,[99] Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine and Brand: A Second Coming.[100] Ex Machina had🔑 its North American premiere. 6 Years, Manson Family Vacation and Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine all got distribution🔑 deals at the festival.[101]
The 2024 festival hosted the swearing-in ceremony of Michelle K. Lee as the new head of the🔑 United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker administered the oath of office to Lee at🔑 the festival on Friday, March 13.[102]
Various sources called Meerkat, an iOS app that had launched two weeks earlier that lets🔑 users livestream video via Twitter, the breakout technology of SXSW Interactive.[103][104] Another product that got significant buzz was a prototype🔑 of the roadable aircraft AeroMobil.[103][104]
2024 [ edit ]
SXSW 2024 began on March 11 and ended on March 20.[105]
On March 11,🔑 President Barack Obama gave a speech at SXSW Interactive in which he called on the technology industry to help solve🔑 many of America's problems, such as upgrading outdated networks, helping balance security and privacy, and the FBI–Apple encryption dispute.[106]
Films that🔑 premiered at SXSW Film include Everybody Wants Some!!, Keanu, Sausage Party, Pee-wee's Big Holiday and Don't Think Twice.[107]
On the night🔑 of March 20, gunshots rang out on 6th Street causing mass hysteria and panic. No injuries were reported and a🔑 man from Memphis was arrested with discharging a firearm and disturbing the peace.[citation needed]
2024 [ edit ]
Films that premiered at🔑 SXSW Film include Song to Song, Baby Driver, Atomic Blonde, Gemini,[108] The Ballad of Lefty Brown. Spettacolo and The Disaster🔑 Artist.[109] Television series that previewed include The Son, Dear White People and American Gods.[108] To promote the Hulu original series🔑 The Handmaid's Tale, dozens of actresses silently walked the streets of downtown Austin costumed in red "handmaid" dresses.[110] To promote🔑 the third season of the AMC original series Better Call Saul (a spin-off prequel of Breaking Bad), a pop-up "Los🔑 Pollos Hermanos" restaurant, representing the fictional fast food chain featured in both series, appeared in downtown Austin.[111][112]
Guest speakers included former🔑 mayor of Newark, NJ and current Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey),[113] political activist and commentator Van Jones[114] and former Vice🔑 President Joe Biden,[115] who spoke about his cancer research initiative. Nile Rodgers gave the keynote address for the music portion🔑 of the festival,[116] while filmmakers Gareth Edwards[117] and Lee Daniels[118] gave the keynote presentations for the film portion.
Major companies and🔑 brands which exhibited at SXSW (many with standalone "brand activation" pavilions) included IBM, Intel, Panasonic, Nintendo, GE, Giorgio Armani, Mazda🔑 and National Geographic.
Major performers during the music component of the festival included Garth Brooks, Lana Del Rey, Lil Yachty, The🔑 Roots, The Avett Brothers, Willie Nelson, Solange Knowles, Rae Sremmurd, Cardiel, Migos, and The Chainsmokers, among others.
En route to SXSW🔑 2024, Italian post-punk band Soviet Soviet, traveling on the Visa Waiver Program, was denied entry to the United States, detained🔑 overnight and deported after an immigration officer at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport claimed they were planning on conducting a paid performance,🔑 which would have required a work visa. The band presented a letter from their American record label stating that both🔑 their performances at KEXP (which was what had brought the band to Seattle) and at SXSW were for promotional purposes🔑 only, but this failed to convince officials at the airport.[119] There was a "Contrabanned" showcase on March 17, featuring various🔑 artists and musicians (residents of the U.S. and Canada) who are natives of, or have family connections to, countries affected🔑 by the 2024 U.S. travel ban.[120][121]
Uber and Lyft were not available to attendees because they had pulled out of Austin🔑 in May 2024 as a result of a city ordinance mandating fingerprint-based background checks for drivers of any ridesharing company.[122]🔑 However, other services such as (locally based) RideAustin, Fasten and Fare, were available, although in high demand. Uber and Lyft🔑 resumed service in Austin in May 2024.[123]
2024 [ edit ]
SXSW 2024 ran from March 9 to 18.
Finalists of the 2024🔑 SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event included Cambridge Cancer Genomics and Bluefield Technologies.[124] Two winners of the event were Austin-based: GrubTubs (in🔑 the Hyper-Connected Communities category) and ICON 3D (in the Social and Culture category).[125]
Guest speakers included politicians Bernie Sanders, Arnold Schwarzenegger🔑 and Sadiq Khan; journalists Christiane Amanpour and Ta-Nehisi Coates; filmmakers Barry Jenkins, Darren Aronofsky and Steven Spielberg; and others including🔑 Elon Musk and David Banner. Actor and comedian Bill Murray appeared at several unofficial functions during SXSW.
Major performers during SXSW🔑 Music included Tinashe, Rae Sremmurd, Rita Coolidge, Salt-N-Pepa and Khalid. There was an apparent increased emphasis on locally based performers,🔑 international acts and relative unknowns.[126]
New games announced during the 2024 SXSW Gaming Expo included Sonic Mania Plus.[127] At the SXSW🔑 Gaming Awards (held March 17), the award for Game of the Year went to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of🔑 the Wild.[128]
Films that premiered at the 2024 South By Southwest Film Festival include A Quiet Place, Blockers, Ready Player One🔑 and the documentary feature and winner of a Special Jury Prize, Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable.[129] Films that had🔑 their U.S. premiere include Final Portrait and Who We Are Now.[129] The film Thunder Road won the grand jury prize.🔑 TV series that previewed include Barry, Krypton, The Last O.G.[129] and Cloak & Dagger.[130] To promote the second season of🔑 the HBO series Westworld, a recreation of the show's fictional Western "town" of Sweetwater was built on two acres of🔑 open land just outside Austin. Fans took shuttles to the site, which was dressed in the Old West style, with🔑 over 60 actors playing the parts of the android "hosts".[131][132]
SXSW 2024 coincided with a string of bombings in Austin, which🔑 had begun on March 2 and ended on March 21, when the presumed perpetrator, Mark Anthony Conditt, blew himself up🔑 after being discovered by police.[133] Two of the bombings occurred during SXSW. On March 17, Live Nation Music, a company🔑 organizing events for SXSW, received a bomb threat via email. Police searched the area mentioned in the email and found🔑 nothing of concern, but planned performances by The Roots and Ludacris, among others, were canceled.[134][135] Police arrested 26-year-old Trevor Weldon🔑 Ingram the next day; Ingram was charged with making a terroristic threat, a third-degree felony, in connection with the email.[136]
2024🔑 [ edit ]
South by Southwest 2024 ran from March 8 to 17.
Films entered at SXSW Film included Us, The Beach🔑 Bum, Long Shot, Booksmart and The Highwaymen.[137] TV series that previewed included FX's What We Do in the Shadows, Hulu's🔑 Shrill and OWN's David Makes Man.
At the SXSW Gaming Awards (held March 16), the award for Game of the Year🔑 went to God of War.[138]
Major performers for SXSW Music included Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (their first-ever appearance at SXSW).[139]
Winners🔑 of the 2024 SXSW Pitch event, in which emerging startups pitch to potential investors, included Derq, Pathway and ENZO Tyres.🔑 The “Best In Show" winner was Nebula Genomics;[140] the “Best Bootstrap" award went to TwentyTables and the “Best Speed Pitch”🔑 went to Xplosion Tech.[141]
Some of the first forums of the 2024 presidential race took place at SXSW, with Democratic presidential🔑 candidates Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, John Hickenlooper, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Elizabeth Warren and🔑 Andrew Yang all making appearances at the festival (though some had not yet announced their candidacy at the time).[142][143][144] Other🔑 scheduled guest speakers included politicians Mazie Hirono and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; musicians David Byrne and Wyclef Jean; actors and comedians Aidy🔑 Bryant, Kathy Griffin, Ethan Hawke, Trevor Noah and Zoe Saldana; businesspeople Tim Ferriss, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Guy Kawasaki; and others🔑 including Priscilla Chan, Neil Gaiman, Valerie Jarrett, Michael Mignano, Bill Nye, Dawn Ostroff, Robert Rodriguez and Maria Shriver.
To promote the🔑 final season of Game of Thrones, HBO organized a blood drive with the American Red Cross titled "Bleed for the🔑 Throne" which included actors in costumes similar to those on the series.[145][146]
To promote the Amazon Prime original limited series Good🔑 Omens, a brand activation experience called "Garden of Earthly Delights" was installed in downtown Austin.[147][148]
2024s [ edit ]
2024 [ edit🔑 ]
South by Southwest 2024 was scheduled to run from March 13 to 22, but was officially canceled on March 6🔑 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, Texas,[149] the result of an order by the city of Austin.[150] The city's🔑 Mayor Steve Adler announced the cancellation of the 2024 SXSW and also declared a local disaster area.[151]
In the month prior🔑 to the conference, SXSW organizers had resisted calls to cancel the conference. On February 28, a spokesperson said:
The SXSW 2024🔑 event is proceeding as planned. Safety is a top priority for SXSW, and we work closely with local, state, and🔑 federal agencies year-round to plan for a safe event. Where travel has been impacted, especially in the case of China,🔑 we are seeing a handful of cancellations. However, we are on par with years past in regard to registrants who🔑 are unable to attend. We are increasing our efforts to prevent the spread of disease per Austin Public Health's recommendations.🔑 We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates as necessary.[152]
However, in the run up to the🔑 conference, numerous companies and organizations canceled their SXSW attendance, including Twitter,[153][154] Facebook,[155] Vevo,[156] Intel,[157] Mashable,[158] Universal Music Group,[159] Amazon, Entertainment🔑 Weekly,[160] TikTok,[161] SAP,[162] Netflix,[163] Apple,[164] Indeed,[165] WarnerMedia,[166] The Washington Post,[167] and IBM.[168] Additionally, many individual attendees, headliners and speakers had🔑 decided not to attend, including keynote speaker Tim Ferriss[169] and artists such as the Beastie Boys, Ozzy Osbourne and Trent🔑 Reznor.[170]
An online petition called for SXSW 2024 to be canceled due to health concerns; by the time of the cancellation,🔑 it exceeded 50,000 signatures.[171][172]
SXSW organizers said that they were "devastated" by the cancellation, stating that, "'The show must go on'🔑 is in our DNA."[150] They wrote that they were attempting to reschedule the event, and were at the same time🔑 working to create an online SXSW for 2024.[150]
SXSW co-founder Nick Barbaro said the organization did not have cancellation insurance relating🔑 to a disease pandemic or triggered by the city declaring a “local state of disaster.”[173]
Various unofficial SXSW events, as well🔑 as “alternative” SXSW events, did occur, in an attempt to help local workers and businesses who would be hurt most🔑 by the cancellation.[174] The Austin Community Foundation also launched a "Stand with Austin Fund" for donations to "individuals and small🔑 businesses most negatively impacted by the cancellation of SXSW and least able to recover on their own."[175]
On March 13, 2024,🔑 festival organizers announced that they would proceed with juried and special awards, with judges viewing submissions online.[176][177] On March 24,🔑 the winners of the 2024 SXSW Gaming Awards were announced on the SXSW website, and the honorees recorded acceptance messages🔑 for the SXSW YouTube channel and website.[178] Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was awarded Video Game of the Year.
On April 2,🔑 SXSW announced a joint venture with Amazon Prime Video to launch a film festival collection. Filmmakers scheduled to screen films🔑 at SXSW were given the option to have their films play exclusively, and for free, on Prime Video in the🔑 U.S. for a 10-day "virtual film festival".[179]
In May, SXSW organizers announced "SXSW Sessions Online," a weekly series of online discussions🔑 to run through June, with some of the previously announced guest speakers; each video session was streamed online with Q&A🔑 portions made available initially to those originally registered for the festival. All sessions were posted afterwards on the SXSW YouTube🔑 channel.[180]
2024 [ edit ]
Using a combination of technologies from Brightcove for B2C, and Shift72 for B2B, SXSW ran a virtual🔑 event from March 16 to 20.[181]
Films and miniseries that premiered at SXSW include Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, Hysterical,🔑 Jakob's Wife, Violet,[182] Dear Mr. Brody, Here Before, The Fallout, The Lost Sons, Introducing, Selma Blair, Lily Topples the World,🔑 Not Going Quietly, The Return: Life After ISIS, Fruits of Labor and United States vs. Reality Winner.[183]
Featured speakers included Samantha🔑 Bee, Richard Branson, Chiquis Rivera, Tim Ellis, Laurieann Gibson, Taraji P. Henson, Rana el Kaliouby, Matthew McConaughey, Adriene Mishler, and🔑 Alexi Pappas. Keynote addresses were given by Stacey Abrams, Pete Buttigieg and Willie Nelson.[184]
2024 [ edit ]
South by Southwest 2024🔑 ran from March 11 to 20. The SXSW Conference & Festivals and SXSW EDU drew total participation totalling approximately 278,681.[185]
Organizers🔑 of SXSW planned for a hybrid event (in-person with online viewing and participation options); all registered in-person participants and attendees🔑 were required to provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19, or a recent negative COVID-19 test, as a condition of🔑 receiving their badge. All on-site SXSW staff and volunteers also needed proof of vaccination. Masks were required in several critical🔑 indoor spaces (including areas for registration and exhibitions), physical distancing strongly recommended whenever possible, and hand sanitizing stations provided throughout🔑 the conference and exhibition venues. The Austin Convention Center, along with other event venues, upgraded air filtration and increased the🔑 cleaning and sanitizing frequency of high touch surfaces, including using UV light technology.[186] Overall the event was slightly smaller than🔑 in previous (in-person) years with the core downtown area not quite as crowded (and therefore easier and faster to get🔑 around) and a smaller number of musical artists and overall content; significantly fewer major celebrities (especially musical acts) appeared than🔑 in previous years, although the film component seemed to celebrate a strong comeback after two years of virtual festivals.[187][188]
Films that🔑 premiered at SXSW Film were Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Lost City, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Bodies🔑 Bodies Bodies, X, Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood, I Love My Dad, Master of Light (winner of the🔑 documentary competition), and What We Leave Behind (winner of the Louis Black "Lone Star" and Fandor New Voices Awards).[189] TV🔑 series previewed include WeCrashed (Apple TV+), the third season of FX's Atlanta, Halo (Paramount+), and The Last Movie Stars (CNN+).
At🔑 the SXSW Gaming Awards (held March 12), the award for Game of the Year went to Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker🔑 (Square Enix); it also took home awards for Excellence in Narrative and Excellence in Original Score.[190] (2024 would be the🔑 final year to date for the SXSW Gaming Awards; the event would not be held in 2024.)
Major performers for SXSW🔑 Music included Ashanti,[191] Dolly Parton (her first time at SXSW; the appearance was to promote Run, Rose, Run, her new🔑 album (and companion novel written in collaboration with James Patterson)),[192] Shawn Mendes, Beck (who was also a keynote speaker) and🔑 Oleksandra "Sasha" Zaritska, the frontperson of Ukrainian band KAZKA, who planned to make their U.S. debut at SXSW, but the🔑 other two members were drafted into military service due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zaritska performed as part of🔑 a special "Austin Stands With Ukraine" musical showcase.[193]
Winners of the 2024 SXSW Pitch event, in which emerging startups pitch to🔑 potential investors, included Syrup Tech, Anthill, and Sonavi Labs. The “Best In Show" winner was Hilos, the “Best Bootstrap" award🔑 went to Kiro Action, and the “Best One-Minute Speed Pitch” went to Unpacking.[194]
Major organizations and brands which exhibited at SXSW🔑 (many with standalone "brand activation" pavilions) included Porsche,[195] the University of Arizona, Amazon Prime Video (including a promotion for Lizzo's🔑 reality competition series, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls), Peacock, Paramount+, and several galleries devoted to NFTs, including the Doodles🔑 project, co-created by artist Evan Keast.
Promoting its new Halo series (based on the video game franchise), Paramount+ deployed a swarm🔑 of 400 purple-lighted drones in the nighttime skies above Austin, spelling out a scannable QR code as well as “#HaloTheSeries🔑 Streams Mar 24” and the Paramount+ logo.[196]
Keynote speakers included Grammy Award-winning artists Lizzo and Beck; author Neal Stephenson, and producer/director🔑 Celine Tricart.[197]
2024 [ edit ]
SXSW 2024 occurred March 10–19 in Austin.[198] The SXSW Conference & Festivals and SXSW EDU drew🔑 total participation totaling approximately 345,066.[199]
Films premiered at the festival include Angel Applicant (which won the Documentary Feature Competition[200]), Bottoms, Dungeons🔑 & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Evil Dead Rise, I Used To Be Funny, The Wrath of Becky, Late Night With🔑 the Devil, Problemista,Tetris, Talk to Me, Aberrance, Brooklyn 45, It Lives Inside, Monolith, Raging Grace (which won the Narrative Feature🔑 Competition), Deadland and Bloody Hell. TV series that premiered included Grown (which took the TV Pilot Competition award) and Mrs.🔑 Davis.[201]
In what was reported as a "surprise" announcement, John Wick 4 made its US premiere at SXSW on March 13;🔑 star Keanu Reeves participated in a live Q&A session immediately after the screening.[202] Hypnotic, an action thriller starring Ben Affleck🔑 and directed by Robert Rodriguez, was given a "work in progress" preview screening on March 12.[203] In another surprise screening🔑 to close out the film portion of SXSW, Affleck premiered Air, the biographical drama he directed about the creation of🔑 the Nike Air Jordan shoes (starring himself, Viola Davis and Matt Damon), on March 18.[204]
Winners of the 2024 SXSW Pitch🔑 event (held March 11–12 at the Hilton Austin Downtown), in which emerging startups pitch to potential investors, included Reality Defender,🔑 Reach Pathways and Urban Machine. The “Best In Show" winner was PentoPix, the “Best Bootstrap" award went to AMA —🔑 Environmental Agents and the “Best Speed Pitch” went to LeadrPro. 13 out of the 40 startups participating in SXSW Pitch🔑 were from outside the USA.[205]
Veteran broadcast journalist Dan Rather was the tenth inductee into the SXSW Hall of Fame; he🔑 addressed the attendees at the induction event on March 13.[206] Rather joined previous inductees including Kara Swisher, Baratunde Thurston and🔑 Jeffrey Zeldman.
Austin-based tech entrepreneur Whurley delivered a 45-minute presentation completely generated with the help of generative AI tools ChatGPT and🔑 Midjourney.[207]
Major performers for SXSW Music included New Order (the members of whom also participated in a keynote on March 15[208]),🔑 Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco), Austin-based band Porcelain, New York City-based rock/soul quintet SUSU, rap artist Armani White and Michigander.[209]
The Union🔑 of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) held a rally at the Austin Convention Center on March 16, demanding increased compensation🔑 for the majority of the over 1,400 musical acts (the majority of them independent and relatively unknown musicians and bands,🔑 as opposed to more famous/established artists) contracted to appear at SXSW. Artists and bands are generally expected to cover many🔑 of their own expenses (including travel to Austin) while performing at the festival; other music festivals around the country offer🔑 more generous compensation, including lodging assistance. UMAW's demands include raising compensation, waiving application fees; SXSW representatives said they would review🔑 the compensation guidelines/policies after the festival.[210]
Keynote speakers included José Andrés, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Tilda Swinton, RZA, and the members of🔑 the band New Order.
A new spinoff event, SXSW Sydney, was held for the first time from October 15 to 22,🔑 2024 in Sydney, Australia.[211][212]
Economic impact [ edit ]
SXSW is the highest revenue-producing event outside of athletic and other events associated🔑 with The University of Texas at Austin for the Austin economy, with an estimated economic impact ofR$190.3 million in 2012[213]🔑 increasing toR$218 million in 2013,[214]R$315 million in 2014,[215]R$317 million in 2024,[216] andR$325 million in 2024.[217] In 2024, when SXSW resumed🔑 in-person events after the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival brought an estimatedR$280 million to the local economy, a 21% reduction from🔑 the 2024 economic impact of nearlyR$356 million (a record number).[218] (In comparison, Super Bowl LI brought aR$347 million economic impact🔑 to the Houston economy[219] and the 2024 Final Four brought aR$324 million economic impact to the economy of Phoenix, Arizona.)[220]
Additionally,🔑 demand for hotel rooms in the Austin area continued to outstrip supply, pushing average nightly room rates up to an🔑 all-time high ofR$350 in 2024, a 60 percent increase over the average room rate seen during 2011's edition of SXSW.🔑 The average SXSW registrant also stayed in Austin longer in 2024, spending an average of 5.2 nights, up from 4.9🔑 nights in 2024.[221]
Criticism [ edit ]
The growth of the festival has brought concerns about violence, crowd control, and safety.[222][223][needs update]
The🔑 2014 drunk-driving incident prompted discussion about whether the festival had grown too large and raucous.[224] The organizers of the festival—SXSW🔑 Holdings LLC and SXSW Holdings Inc.—were sued by families of the four victims.[225]
Claims brought against South by Southwest, the city🔑 of Austin and other defendants from victims of a 2014 crash during the international music festival that killed four people🔑 and injured 20 were dismissed by a Travis Court Judge.
In May 2014, partially motivated by the 2014 crash, Austin's Urban🔑 Transportation Commission announced that it was seeking to enhance safety at the festival, with an initial focus on implementing transportation🔑 measures to resolve issues linked to the festival. The Austin Music Commission also met to discuss music venues and sound🔑 problems linked to the festival.[226] The city voted to limit the number of special events which would be approved to🔑 114, a 32 percent decrease from the number of approved events during the 2014 festival.[227]
In 2013, NPR writer Andrea Swensson🔑 wrote that she had decided to stop attending the festival, writing, "I can't help but feel that it has strayed🔑 far away from its original premise as a grassroots gathering place for new, undiscovered talent and increasingly feels like a🔑 big ol' Times Square billboard-sized commercial."[228]
In October 2024, SXSW cancelled two video game panels ("#SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming🔑 Community" and "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment In Games") scheduled for the 2024 festival due to threats of violence made to🔑 the festival hosting the sessions.[229] In response to the cancellations, BuzzFeed and Vox Media made statements saying they would pull🔑 out of the festival if the two panels weren't reinstated.[230][231] Organizers then apologized for the cancellations. In lieu of a🔑 panel, South by Southwest hosted a daylong "online harassment summit" on March 12, 2024.[232]
The Central Intelligence Agency's graphic for its🔑 "Spies Supercharged" panel at South by Southwest 2024
Elements of the United States Intelligence Community including the Office of the Director🔑 of National Intelligence (ODNI), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have presented panels🔑 at the event and recruit talent.[233][234][235][236] In 2024, plans for CIA panels were met with derision over the agency's association🔑 with Operation Condor.[237]
In popular culture [ edit ]
Spinoff festivals [ edit ]
In addition to the three main South by Southwest🔑 festivals, the company runs other conferences: SXSW EDU, a conference on educational innovation, held in Austin,[243] and the upcoming SXSW🔑 Sydney, to be held in October 2024 in Sydney, Australia.[211]
The creators of South by Southwest co-created two similar festivals in🔑 1995: North by Northwest (NXNW) in Portland, Oregon (co-founded by the Willamette Week), and North by Northeast (NXNE) in Toronto🔑 (co-founded by Now).[5] North by Northwest ended in 2001, and was replaced by MusicfestNW (MFNW), an event run entirely by🔑 the Willamette Week.[244]
From 2006 to 2010, organizers ran West by Southwest (WXSW) in Tucson, Arizona, a music festival which occurred🔑 directly before South by Southwest and mostly featured bands that were also booked for SXSW.[245]
Other former conferences run by the🔑 SXSW organization include:
SXSW Eco, a conference focusing on social and environmental issues through the lens of technology, creativity and design🔑 held in Austin from 2011 to 2024 [246]
SXSW V2V, a conference focused on innovative startups, [247] held in Las Vegas🔑 from 2013 to 2024
held in Las Vegas from 2013 to 2024 The me Convention, held in Frankfurt, Germany and in🔑 Stockholm, Sweden, in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, from 2024 to 2024[248][249]
Similar festivals [ edit ]
Festivals inspired by SXSW include:
Festivals inspired by🔑 SXSW that are defunct include:
Festivals inspired by South by Southwest have been collectively nicknamed "four-letter festivals". Metro Silicon Valley, which🔑 founded C2SV, wrote in 2013 that such festivals were important revenue sources for the alternative weekly newspapers that founded them.[5]
On🔑 October 3, 2024, a one-day festival called "South by South Lawn" (SXSL) was held at the White House as a🔑 collaboration between SXSW, US President Barack Obama, and the American Film Institute.[251]
