SXSW: South by Southwest, the internationally renowned “festival of creativity” founded in Austin, Texas, has just unveiled the first round of its event programming for its inaugural Asia-Pacific rendition of the major event. The culture-meets-tech festival will be taking place in Sydney from October 15 to Sunday, October 22 later this year.
Sydney is the first city outside of Austin to be home to the event that gathers future-thinkers, creatives and tech developers Down Under, merging gaming, music, screen, innovation and culture in the week-long program.
As Australia continues to lead the way in developing regulatory frameworks to boost the safe embrace and adoption of Web3 and crypto, SXSW will celebrate the emergence of these new technologies with Web3, XR and metaverse event tracks.
The event, developed with support by the NSW Government’s tourism agency, Destination NSW, will take place across a range of venues including ICC Sydney, UTS, The Powerhouse Museum and more.
SXSW: Attendees
Attendees can join more than 400 keynotes, presentations, panels, workshops and mentor sessions with creatives and innovators from Australia and abroad. The event’s Technology & Innovation Exhibitions will highlight emerging tech and entertainment companies across the Asia-Pacific region.
Workshops, keynotes and presentations will showcase immersive experience breakthroughs in virtual and augmented realities, identities and the “intertwining of worlds through the metaverse”.
Across the week-long event, punters can additionally network and collaborate at a Startup Village, while music lovers can gallivant across live music venues across central Sydney for the SXSW Music Festival section of the event.
Additionally, the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival will share a “future-focused” program of film, digital, XR and social content premieres. The SXSW Gaming Festival will showcase the future of the gaming industry, with more than 100 local and international independent games offering gameplay opportunities.
“According to Geoff Jones, Chair of SXSW Sydney, the event will “bolster the creative economy” and “facilitate a special connection between creative industries and businesses in the region — the kind that can lead to collaboration and innovation on a global scale.”
Robyn Denhol, the Chair of Tesla and Operating Partner of Venture Capital firm, Blackbird Ventures, shared that Australia is on the cusp of becoming “a global technology powerhouse”, with the Sydney event bringing an “opportunity to showcase our Australian technology to the world.”
To participate in SXSW, you can submit a proposal here. For tickets, check it out here.
