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Sydney’s live events calendar will receive a major boost next year with the addition of a new global music, talks and film festival to help drive the state’s culture-led, post-lockdown comeback.
In a coup for Destination NSW, the lead government agency responsible for tourism and major events, South by Southwest (SXSW) will be brought from Austin, Texas, to Sydney in October 2023.
Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto attend the premiere of WeCrashed during the 2022 SXSW on March 12 in Austin.
Colin Daniels, managing director of SXSW Sydney, said the event would gather the largest group of inspiring international thinkers, creators, innovators and performers ever seen in Sydney at one time.
“I attended South by Southwest for the first time in 1998 and I was hooked,” Daniels said. “It was love at first sight from the moment I arrived at Austin Airport where there was live music being performed in the terminal. I was energised with a combined sense of possibility, innovation and discovery. My world felt bigger and my horizons broader. Put simply, I want every person that attends South By Southwest to feel the same way I did in 1998.”
Focusing on the creator industries in the Asia Pacific region, SXSW Sydney would celebrate what’s next in culture, tech, and the region’s thriving creative economy - with the city to play host to more than 1000 experiences encompassing keynote speakers, inspiring panels, summits, product demonstrations, artists performances, screenings, live gaming sessions and myriad networking events and parties.
Rapper Joey bada$$ performs at The Mohawk during SXSW in Austin, Texas.
Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann endorsed the Sydney edition: “”The thing about South By Southwest is it removes the line between what is music, what is film, what is gaming. What it’s really about is what is creativity, what is culture, but the idea that you bring this confluence of all these cultural elements together in a city like Sydney. And when I think about the fact that we are positioned so much on the Asian Pacific rim, and that we are a crossroads, I can’t even imagine how exciting it’s going to be to have South By Southwest in the only other place in the world to have it, in Sydney.“”
Event producer for SXSW Sydney Geoff Jones said: “Put simply, SXSW is the Olympics of events for the creator industries, and we are thrilled to bring this legendary festival of gaming, music, screen, tech and innovation to Sydney in 2023.”
The Sydney edition will be the first time the festival has left its home state of Texas since its launch in 1987. It will comprise 1000 sessions, screenings, and performances, activations, and parties across the city with the Sydney convention centre as the “anchor point”. Daniels said there was a “place at the table” for kitchen start-ups and garage bands as well as multinational companies trying to change the world.