A carnival with a ferris wheel sponsored by Audible. Pop-up pickleball courts promoted by Smirnoff's new Smash Vodka Soda. And a 30-foot inflatable turd produced by the maker of Poo~Pourri spray.
Those are just a few of the strange sights that will be part of the downtown Austin landscape in March, when thousands of people from around the world convene at South By Southwest to learn about what's next in tech, music, film, education, comedy and pretty much anything else you can think of.
The flashy activations are evidence of the festival's gradual return to form following the Covid-19 pandemic. But SXSW organizers say the heart of the festival largely remains what it has been for many years: cutting-edge performances, spontaneous in-person interactions and an unleashing of fresh ideas and cross-industry connections.
"One of the ironies about South by Southwest is we are all about technology in so many different ways —new gadgets, new social media," SXSW Co-President and Chief Programming Officer Hugh Forrest said during a Feb. 21 festival preview. "But what we find in March is that people like coming together at events like this and big events like South by Southwest and at smaller events throughout the year. People like coming together."
Hugh Forrest runs SXSW.
Dylan O'Connor / SXSW
This year's attendance will likely fall slightly shy of the festival's peak years before the pandemic, but Forrest said international attendance has mostly rebounded to about 30% of all attendees. He also said many people are still buying badges with less than three weeks to go before the festival begins.
Meanwhile, SXSW itself is humming along, although not quite back to pre-pandemic levels. Back in 2020, the SXSW organization employed about 220 people. It's currently at about 180, Forrest said.
"As with every business, it's a long journey back," he said.
While the festival has made many small changes to its schedules and formats in the past couple years, most attendees probably won't notice amid the chaos of celebrities, parties and brand activations.
The events this year will include conversations with innovators such as AMD's Lisa Su, Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi and OpenAI's head of ChatGPT, Peter Deng. Then there's performances by The Black Keys, Peso Pluma and Hinds, as well as major movie premiers, including "Road House," "The Fall Guy" and "My Dead Friend Zoe," which was produced by Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce — which has everyone asking whether his very famous girlfriend might show up in Austin, too.
Cheetos opens the doors at its Hands-Free House during SXSW in East Austin on Saturday, March 12. The experience — a partnership with Amazon, specifically Alexa — gave fans an inside look at all the hands-free possibilities they have at their fingertips. (Drew Anthony Smith/AP Images for Frito-Lay North America)
Inside the Hands-Free House, visitors walk in to get their Cheetle-dusted fingers on — er, off — a variety of hands-free tech, Cheetos-inspired cuisine, and more. (Drew Anthony Smith/AP Images for Frito-Lay North America)
Inside the Cheetos Hands-Free House, attendees snacked on Cheetos-inspired cuisine while they controlled lights, sounds and more with the help of Alexa. (Drew Anthony Smith/AP Images for Frito-Lay North America)
Cheetos fans were invited to "tag" a wall with technology at the Cheetos Hands-Free House during SXSW in East Austin on Saturday, March 12. (Drew Anthony Smith/AP Images for Frito-Lay North America)
Over on Rainey Street — arguably one of the busiest strips of downtown during SXSW — news channel CNN came back to Austin once again with its CNN House and invited locals to listen to live music and DJs while they sipped on drinks and networked. Austinite Evan Smith, co-founder and CEO of Texas Tribune, was among the newsies to make the scene.
Amazon Prime, with the help of musician Lizzo's brand, took over a dirt parking lot near Rainey Street across from the Fairmont Hotel to showcase its TV talent with an activation that included a big screen with theater seating outdoors and a carnival carousel behind a castle-like wall.
About an hour away from the SXSW buzz in downtown Austin, music legend Willie Nelson once again held his Luck Reunion party at his ranch to coincide with SXSW 2022.
Brands of all types take the chance to show off at Willie's annual party during SXSW. This year, Topo Chico, White Claw and Tito's Vodka were among the prevalent drink purveyors while smaller brands sold cowboy hats and denim jackets via booths.
Willie, himself an entrepreneur, has his own shop of Willie's Reserve products for sale on the ranch. No marijuana, due to Texas laws — just the tools needed to take care of an herb similar to weed.
From left: Silverton Partners Managing Partner Morgan Flager sits for a SXSW 2022 panel with The Zebra CEO Keith Melnick, Everly Health founder and CEO Julia Cheek and Self Financial founder and CEO James Garvey.
The Experience by Dell Technologies at SXSW, an activation located at Brazos Hall at 204 E. Fourth St. in downtown Austin, invited festival attendees to deliver their best elevator pitches on March 14.
Swedish electric truck maker Einride AB made a flashy appearance at the 2022 South by Southwest Creative Industries Expo. Einride employs dozens of people in Austin, according to a company representative.
Space tourism company World View Enterprises Inc., which aims to bring passengers to the stratosphere, brought its bold vision to the 2022 SXSW Creative Industries Expo.
A line forms outside Rainey Street bar Bungalow on Monday, March 14, during the 2022 South by Southwest festival. While some bars on the popular strip were taken over by SXSW show-offs, many welcomed people in as usual — badge or not.
Susto Es Muerto with Lureto preps for their set at the Empire Control Room on March 19.
Paul Thompson/ABJ
As per SXSW style, you can expect a few last-minute announcements as well, including a new keynote speaker announcement on Feb. 27.
For people who don't buy badges this year, there are several free events. That includes Austin Industry Day on March 13 when the conference's expo at the Austin Convention Center is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., as well as community concerts at Auditorium Shores and Flatstock, where you can check out thousands of concert posters and art.
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