What is SXSW? A Guide To Austin's Festival

Culture

South By Southwest Conferences & Festival is a festival celebrating original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. The festival takes place in Austin, Texas March 8-17. 

The music festival will take place March 12-17 and will feature almost 19,000 music industry professionals attending panels, industry discussions, demo listening sessions, trade show exhibits, and six nights of music performed by about 2,286 various acts representing 49 different countries (click here for a full list of the music showcases).

The film portion of SXSW runs March 8-16 and features films from emerging directors. The film festival screens movies and docs, but also holds conferences on film making and other aspects of the movie making world.

SXSW Interactive takes place March 8-12. The festival will feature some of the brightest minds in emerging technology and showcase some of the best new digital works, video games  and innovative ideas for the future. 

Be sure to follow along with PolicyMic as SXSW progresses.