SXSW is back again with big names, 'activations' and crowds
Nicole Cobler @nicolecobler
Mar 1, 2019 at 9:07 PM Mar 3, 2019 at 6:56 PM
Yes, it's really been a year since tens of thousands of out-of-towners, averaging more than the recommended 10,000 steps per day, descended on downtown Austin for South by Southwest.
The 10-day festival running from March 8 to March 17 promises to be jam-packed with big-name speakers, sessions that cover the year's biggest headlines and, of course, "activations" from big-name brands like Netflix, Amazon and HBO.
Each year, organizers draw from the year's big news, and 2019's festival is no different, touting panels from diversity to "cannabusiness" to artificial intelligence.
SXSW organizers vet thousands of public submissions through its PanelPicker process. Public votes make up 30 percent of the final decision — with 30 percent input from staff and 40 percent from industry experts on the SXSW advisory board.
And each year's programming, which includes 25 tracks this time around, gives a sense of what festival organizers believe attendees most want to hear about. After the divisive 2016 election, for example, 2017's SXSW leaned hard on political content with talks by former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and a whole series of policy panels.
In 2018, sexual harassment, gender equity and the #MeToo movement were the subject of several dozen panels across the entire conference.
For 2019, fresh off the heels of the midterm election and the launch of presidential bids, SXSW announced a two-day event with the Texas Tribune dubbed "Conversations about America," featuring presidential candidates U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Julián Castro, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former mayor of San Antonio; and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
And SXSW generated a lot of buzz in January when organizers announced that U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman from New York and one of the country's most talked about politicians right now, made the list of new speakers at the conference.
Don't worry. It's not all about politics. Don't miss these other festival highlights:
Continuing a trend from recent years, the carnival of celebrity that brought Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Jay-Z bill to SXSW in 2014 has contracted.
Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, who won three Grammys last month, is speaking at SXSW but at press time had no musical performance booked. The same is true for high-profile rapper/actor ASAP Rocky; surviving Beastie Boys members Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond; Shirley Manson of platinum-selling alt-rock band Garbage; and producer/songwriter T Bone Burnett. Also of note: Grammy album of the year winner Kacey Musgraves sold out two non-SXSW nights, March 9 and March 10 at Stubb's.
Public free shows at Auditorium Shores are in the works again this year, though nothing on the level of the giant Garth Brooks concert during SXSW 2017. Austin's Patty Griffin headlines an Americana-oriented bill on March 16, with announcements of additional shows likely still to come.
With fewer superstars, SXSW appears to be more focused on the mission it was founded upon more than 30 years ago: providing a platform for emerging acts. Among possible breakouts this year are fast-rising Brooklyn pop performer King Princess, Australian chart-topping crooner Dean Lewis, Minneapolis-via-Africa singer-songwriter J.S. Ondara and Houston hip-hop act Megan Thee Stallion.
ACL Live, one of the largest rooms the festival uses, has just one official SXSW music event booked. In past years, the venue has hosted performances by Iggy Pop, J. Cole and Wu-Tang Clan, as well as Apple's iTunes Festival with Coldplay, Imagine Dragons and others in 2014. This year it has three ticketed non-SXSW shows during the week of the fest.
But on March 13, ACL Live will open to SXSW attendees for a South Korean music spotlight featuring the American debut of K-pop sensations Ikon. The growth of Korean music at the festival tracks with the burgeoning popularity of K-pop worldwide, and this year's event is the largest international music showcase of the festival.
Other notable international showcases include a Friday night salsa showcase at Parker Jazz club, several Chinese rock shows, and a three-day "Africa to the World" bash at Highland Lounge with arena-packing African stars including Mr. Eazi and Adekunle Gold.
— Peter Blackstock and Deborah Sengupta Stith
This year's film festival opens with Jordan "Get Out" Peele's buzzy horror film "Us." (The newest version of Stephen King's novel "Pet Sematary" is another high-profile horror film.)
A diversity of voices are on display this year; politics, social justice and the interaction between technology and ethics are prominent themes, but not at the expense of entertainment.
"Jezebel" is a narrative about a phone sex operator, "The Garden Left Behind" combines a refugee story with that of a transgender person, as does the documentary "Why Can't I Be Me Around You," which is about a trans car mechanic. Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather helped produced "Human Nature," a documentary on CRISPR medical technology.
There are plenty of films about politics and history, from the already-celebrated "Apollo 11" and a documentary about Beto O'Rourke's campaign for Senate, to a movie about the late Canadian politician Rob Ford called "Run this Town."
There are documentaries about the future of transportation ("Autonomy" about self-driving cars) and America's musical past ("Bluebird," "The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash") and present ("The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story").
On the feature side, Texan Ethan Hawke, who reaffirmed his position as one of his generation's most underrated actors with his performance in last year's "First Reformed," stars in "Adopt A Highway," about an ex-con.
Actress Olivia Wilde, who is also a keynote speaker, is here with her buzzy directorial debut "Book Smart," while Matthew McConaughey stars in "The Beach Bum," which looks very McConaughesque indeed.
And finally, the writers of "Superbad" and veterans of "The Office" team up for an R-rated comedy called "Good Boys," about three friends who make some very bad decisions, and "The Highwaymen" looks at Bonnie and Clyde from law enforcement's point of view.
— Joe Gross
As in previous years, technology continues to drive SXSW and its Interactive festival.
Tech exhibitions include the festival's "Startup Spotlight," a reception-style event that allows exhibitors to network with attendees and provide demos of their startup.
And the SXSW Gaming Cosplay Contest is back again. The contest, presented by Dell Technologies' subsidiary Alienware, is open to SXSW Gaming attendees aged 18 and older.
Among the Interactive keynote speakers this year are Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom, co-founders of Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook in 2012. It's their first public appearance together since they left the company amid frustrations with Facebook's ownership.
SXSW organizers say this year will feature a heavier focus on augmented reality with a track on virtual, augmented and mixed reality. Panels like "An Honest Hologram? The Ethics of MR Design" and "How VR and AR Change The Way We Express Ourselves" look at the implications and future of immersive content.
Sessions on retail; health and medical tech; the e-sports industry; and entrepreneurship and startups will also have a big presence on the interactive side.
Festival organizers continue to push the "Convergence" track, which is open to all SXSW badge holders. The track includes sessions on the cannabis business, media, journalism, sports and food.
A convergence keynote with former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner is expected to garner a lot of attention among festivalgoers. Boehner and Kevin Murphy, the CEO of cannabis company Acreage Holdings, will discuss paths to the national legalization of marijuana and other challenges the industry faces.
Attendees will have other chances to explore areas outside of their badge designations — meaning that an interactive badge gives highest priority access to interactive events, but it can also give lower priority access to other sides of the festival.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the date ranges of the conference. SXSW takes places from March 8 to March 17.