Venue
TX, United States
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SXSW Music Festival guide
A week of short sets in Austin bars.
In short
SXSW Music suits fans and industry people who like discovering new acts in packed clubs night after night. It usually falls in mid-March, over nine days ending on a Sunday, with Music taking the last seven. Line-ups are announced in waves over the winter, so expect to book a downtown bed before you know who is playing.
SXSW Music is the week of live music at the core of South by Southwest in Austin, Texas: hundreds of new and touring acts playing short sets night after night in bars and clubs, to rooms packed with fans, label scouts and agents who all want to spot the next name before anyone else.
Music is one strand among several. Film and TV, the Innovation conference, education and comedy run alongside it, and the industry people who come for one often wander into another. For an unsigned band, a good night in the right room can still change everything.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Ends: Sunday, 21 March 2027
Where: Austin, United States
Venue: Downtown Austin
Held: Every year
Type of event: Conferences, Live Events, Musical Events
Currency: US dollar (USD, $)
Time zone: Central Time (UTC-6, UTC-5 in summer)
Language: English (Spanish widely spoken)
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Official badges, wristbands and getting into busy venues
Buy badges and music wristbands only from the official SXSW site. Nothing bought from a third party is worth the risk.
Even a valid wristband does not guarantee entry. Small rooms reach capacity long before the act everyone is talking about takes the stage, so the reliable tactic is to arrive for the set before and stay put. Check each venue's schedule during the day, because times move.
Keep the night flexible. If a queue is hopeless, walk a block or two; there is almost always a good band playing somewhere with space.
Pickpockets, water and walking at night during SXSW
Around 345,000 people took part in SXSW in 2023, and crowds of that size attract pickpockets. A zipped inside pocket beats a back pocket for your phone and cards.
- Carry details of any medication and allergies.
- Drink plenty of water between sets; a long night of standing dehydrates quickly.
- Walk home in pairs or groups late at night.
- Agree a meeting point with friends in case you get separated, and tell someone where you plan to be.
Arranging business meetings before you arrive
For anyone attending on business, the useful conversations are usually arranged in advance. Book meetings before you fly, screen the people you agree to see and leave gaps between appointments for the walking time across downtown.
Some of the best contacts happen by chance, in queues for lunch or a club, because the person beside you is very likely an attendee too. Carry a quick way to swap details, and do not spend the whole week at sponsored parties: the city itself is worth seeing.
What happens on the day
- Sat 13 March
SXSW EDU opens
The education conference runs first, from 13 to 16 March, before the music and film crowds arrive.
- Mon 15 March
Music, Film and Innovation begin
SXSW Music starts its seven nights of showcases. The Innovation conference opens the same day and Film and TV runs from the 15th to the closing Sunday.
- Daytime
Panels and networking
Industry sessions keep delegates busy until late afternoon; the Music Clubhouse and conference programme are at The Thompson and The Westin hotels in 2027.
- Evening
Showcases
Short sets follow one another in bars and clubs across downtown and run late into the night.
- Sat 20 March
Innovation closes
The conference ends and downtown starts to thin out.
- Sun 21 March
Closing Sunday
A quieter day left to music and film.
Booking Austin accommodation before acts are announced
Expect to commit before you know who is playing. Names are announced in waves over the winter, so most people book travel on faith in the festival before any act is confirmed. That is less of a gamble than it sounds. Much of the pleasure of SXSW lies in the bands you had never heard of on the way in.
Then work out what sort of access you need. Official badges and music wristbands cover the programmed venues, while a great deal of the music around downtown is open to anyone. Decide on a short list of sets you most want to catch, arrive early for those and leave the rest of each night loose enough to follow a recommendation into a club. For the rest of a trip, our United States travel guide has ideas.
How SXSW began in 1987 and grew to 2,000 acts
It began almost by accident. In July 1986 the organisers of a New York music event contacted Roland Swenson at the Austin Chronicle about bringing their festival to Austin. When that plan collapsed, Swenson built a local one instead with two colleagues at the paper, its editor Louis Black and its publisher Nick Barbaro, plus the booking agent and musician Louis Jay Meyers. The first edition, in March 1987, was planned for about 150 people. More than 700 turned up.
It soon outgrew its regional ambitions. Meyers left in the early 1990s, but the other three stayed on as the festival's key organisers. Film and technology were added later and turned a music meeting into the multi-strand event of today.
Discovery is still the point. The 2014 bill alone ran to over 2,000 acts, taking in DJs, rappers and songwriters alone with a guitar, mostly unknown and all hoping someone influential would be in the room. Sometimes someone is. The Polyphonic Spree, James Blunt and John Mayer are among the acts whose careers took off after an Austin set.
Getting there
Flying in
Austin-Bergstrom International is roughly 5 miles south-east of downtown. Travellers from abroad should check US entry rules first; visa-waiver nationals need an approved ESTA before boarding.
Route 20 into town
CapMetro's Route 20 picks up on the lower level by baggage claim, every 15 minutes, and reaches downtown in about 35 minutes for a local fare of $1.25. It is often quicker than a car during festival week.
No convention centre this time
The Austin Convention Center, SXSW's base since 1993, closed for redevelopment in 2025, so the festival now runs campus-style across downtown venues.
East Sixth Street
Nine historic blocks of bars and clubs, loud and shoulder-to-shoulder by late evening.
Red River Cultural District
Red River Street from the 600 block up to the 900, the place for smaller rooms and newer bands.
On foot
Cars crawl all week and most venues are a few blocks apart, so walking is usually faster. Comfortable shoes matter more than anything else you pack.
Where to stay during the festival
Downtown rooms go early for festival week, and music fans compete with the conference, film, education and comedy crowds who arrive at the same time. A room within walking distance of the clubs is worth paying extra for, and most people book before a single act is announced.
Weather and what to pack
Mid-March in Austin is mild. At Camp Mabry, March averages a daytime high of about 23°C (73°F) and a low of 11°C (52°F), so warm afternoons can give way to cool nights outside a club.
March brings around 73 mm of rain on average, often in short spring storms.
Worth packing
- Comfortable walking shoes
- A light jacket for late nights between venues
- A compact umbrella
- Ear plugs for small, loud rooms
- A portable phone charger
- Photo ID, needed for badge pick-up and at many bars
Car hire in Austin
Airport transfer to SXSW Music Festival
Met at arrivals and driven door to door to Downtown Austin.
Restaurants and food in United States
Places to eat in United States before or after the celebrations.
Joe's Stone Crab
11 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139, United States
Cuisine:SeafoodAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Bar
Alinea
1723 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
Cuisine:ModernistAmerican
- Dine-in
- Counter seating
Franklin Barbecue
900 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702, United States
Cuisine:Texas barbecueAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Commander's Palace
1403 Washington Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130, United States
Cuisine:CreoleNew Orleans
- Dine-in
Katz's Delicatessen
205 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002, United States
Cuisine:Jewish deliAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Counter seating
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
Yes. SXSW takes over downtown Austin, and a lot of shows and day parties are free or open without a pass. A badge or wristband gets you into the official programme, while the free shows let you sample the week before deciding whether a pass is worth it.
They apply. Applications for 2027 opened on 23 June 2026. Selected performers receive either a fee or a wristband for all music events, but they pay their own travel and lodging.
In waves through the winter. Each announcement adds a new batch of names, so keep checking the official site after you have booked your trip.
Co-founder Louis Black came up with it as a play on North by Northwest, the Alfred Hitchcock film. The joke has outlasted almost everything else about the original 1987 event.
The founders still run it, but in April 2021 Penske Media Corporation bought a 50% stake. The deal brought outside money into an event that had been independent since 1987.
About 80 acts withdrew in protest at the festival's sponsorship by the US Army and defence companies. SXSW dropped those sponsors for 2025.
Yes. The Austin City Limits Music Festival fills Zilker Park each October. It is the opposite of SXSW in format: big names outdoors in a park, where SXSW uses dozens of small clubs at once.
Timing & weather
Across downtown. The convention center closed for redevelopment in 2025 and is due to reopen in 2029. Until then SXSW works campus-style, spread over existing venues, so older guides that send you to the center are out of date.
Four days, starting on 17 March. It overlaps with the second half of the music week, so a comedy show makes an easy break between club nights.
Health & safety
Yes, once. The 2020 edition was called off on 6 March 2020 because of Covid. It is the only edition since 1987 that has not gone ahead.
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