SXSW heads Down Under
Image: Outdoor Stage - SXSW 2013 - Photo by Tye Truitt
By ISABELLA GIBBS
The monumental South by Southwest (SXSW) mega festival will be more south than it’s ever been when it heads to Sydney this October. The inaugural SXSW Sydney marks the first time the Texas-based organisation has held an event of this scope away from its home turf, and it is set to be the largest event of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.
SXSW began in 1987 in Austin, Texas as a music festival catering to fewer than 1000 people. It grew rapidly, incorporating a film festival, technology forum, and conferences and attracting estimated attendance of over 200,000 people.
The Sydney edition of the famous ‘festival of festivals’ will take over the city for a jam-packed week of musical performances, gaming competitions, industry leader talks and debut film screenings.
Attendees can expect ground-breaking sessions and unique opportunities to forge connections with some of the world’s leading thinkers, performers, and industry professionals.
What’s even more exciting is that SXSW Sydney —in collaboration with TEG, The NSW Government & Destination NSW — will be the official annual Asia Pacific instalment of SXSW.
“The purpose of SXSW is to help creative people achieve their goals, and Sydney is the ideal city to serve as a home for the cross-collaboration that exists within the many industries we bring together.”
said Roland Swenson, CEO & Co-founder of SXSW.
The program features an impressive line-up of more than 400 diverse artists including home-grown up-and-comers, South Summit, Chanel Loren, and Gut Health. Among the international acts are American rap duo, Flyana Boss and indie pop trio, Almost Monday; SORRY (UK); ADOY, Lil Cherry & GOLDBUUDA (South Korea); Daily J, MELODOWNZ, and Molly Payton (New Zealand); Isyana Sarasvati, and Malaysia presents Lunadira (Indonesia).
Over 700 thought-leaders and industry greats will take the stage, with big names including Coachella CEO Paul Tollett; fashion icon Tan France of Fab Five fame; Cal Henderson, the Co-Founder of Slack; futurist Amy Webb; Ben Lamm, a trailblazing entrepreneur in the field of de-extinction; Charles Rivkin, CEO of the Motion Picture Association; advertising luminary David Droga; and Mel Silva, Managing Director of Google Australia.
Adding to this, SXSW will also feature Sandiaga Uno, Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism, Que Minh Luu, Director of Content for Netflix ANZ, seasoned broadcaster Osher Günsberg, legendary World Surfing Champion Layne Beachley, tech visionary Paul Bassat, Roxy Young, CMO of Reddit, the esteemed artistic director Wesley Enoch, K-pop aficionado and Chief A&R Officer at SM Entertainment, Chris Lee, and Rathi Murthy, CTO of Expedia, among many other speakers.
For more info and to purchase passes, visit:
sxswsydney.com/
You May Also Like
