Every spring since 1987, Austin, Texas, has hosted South by Southwest, a digital interactive, film and music festival for fans from around the world. This year the festival will begin March 8 to 17 with the interactive festival taking place first, the music festival last and the film festival in between and overlapping the two. The nine day long festival offers the unique convergence of original music, independent films and emerging technology all in one place at one time.
“This is the biggest and closest festival we have here,” junior Catherine Khamnouane said. “It feels like there’s all this culture you get from the atmosphere of South by Southwest and it’s just really cool.”
The interactive portion of the South by Southwest, also known as SXSW, will take place from March 8 to March 12. It will feature five days of digital presentations, networking events hosted by industry leaders, the SXSW Trade Show and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing new digital works, video games and innovative ideas from around the world.
“The digital interactive conference is always interesting because they launch and promote new social media outlets and you can be in the know before it hits the public and gets really big,” junior Tiffany Chien said. “In the past, foursquare and twitter were launched there and they’re both really popular now.”
The South by Southwest film conference and festival is scheduled to take place from the start of the festival to March 16. It functions just as any other film festival, featuring all types of films, from 40 minute long Indie “shorties” to large-scale and big-budgeted Hollywood blockbusters. It stresses new directing talent and showcases films from high school students, all the while hosting premieres for commercially successful films, such as 21 Jump Street, Bridesmaids and The Hurt Locker.
“Everyone talks up the music portion, but I like the film portion better,” Khamnouane said. “I’d love to go to the film festival one year and just sit in the back and watch the films and panels all week.”
South by Southwest is most famous for the music festival, taking place this year from March 12 to 17. With more than 2,000 performers playing in more than 90 venues, it is one of the largest music festivals in theUnited States. The festival features music panels, industry discussions, demo listening sessions, trade show exhibits and six nights of music performed by thousands of various acts from over 50 different countries.
“This year will be my first year at South by Southwest,” junior Rachael Henson said. “My brother’s band is playing there and I’m excited to go see some of my favorite bands and listen to the music I like.”
The music festival has shown most growth since SXSW’s inception. In 1987, there were 700 registrants for the music portion of the event and in 2012 the music festival had around 19,000 registrants. However, just because the music portion has attracted the greatest number of fans, it does not mean the interactive and film portions pass unnoticed. In 2012, the two festivals collectively brought 15,000 to 20,000 registrants toAustin. The number of registrants for 2013 is projected to surpass those of all former years.
“South by Southwest is getting bigger every single year,” Chien said. “The environment in Austin is so different from that of Dallas and I love going and being able to experience it.”
