SXSW2023, the festival of movies, music, and tech, is back this year!

The amount of people attending signals Pandemic recovery
A form of happiness that enlivens SXSW 2023 with each company and the whole town

SXSW is being held in Austin, Texas again this year. SXSW consists mainly of three categories, “Film+TV”, “Music” and “Interactive”, and has undergone changes in line with the times such as “Comedy”, “Gaming” and “Education.” It originally started as a music festival in 1987. It is held as an event with diversity and attracts more than 400,000 people from all over the world.

Starting March 10th, various events and conferences are being held simultaneously throughout the city centering on the Austin Convention Center for about two weeks. Film screenings, live music and many other events are held throughout the city of Austin.

SXSW2022 had about 70% more participants than the year before due to the pandemic, but this year there are clearly more people than last year, and everywhere is crowded. Last year, the hybrid event was held on the Metaverse and became a hot topic, but the main battlefield of SXSW2023 can be said to be the real event held in Austin, live and in person.

The registration on the first day was extremely crowded, with people from all over the world lining up to obtain participation badges. It seems that there are quite a few participants from Japan as well. Meeting a compatriot in a foreign city honestly makes me feel happy. Let’s take a look at some pictures of the atmosphere of Austin on the first day of SXSW2023.

The amount of people attending signals Pandemic recovery

The Austin Convention Center is the focal point for conference sessions, with many prominent speakers on stage. A huge sign of SXSW2023 is hung on the wall, and a sponsor booth to distribute drinks is set up near the escalator. The city of Austin is often dry, which is good news for SXSW participants who travel a lot. In fact, drinks and food are often distributed so far, and it seems that this hospitality has been revived in 2023.

The scene of the largest session venue, Ballroom D. On the first day, representatives from Disney Parks and sessions by developers of ChatGPT were held. Both venues were full and many people were waiting in line to enter the venue. Major sessions will be streamed online. It’s also nice to be able to review it later if you miss it.

A form of happiness that enlivens SXSW 2023 with each company and the whole town

In the streets of Austin, various sponsor companies are doing their own branding and appealing their presence. Porsche, the main sponsor this time, has set up a large house in the same prime location on Congress Street as SXSW2022. A huge transformer appears at the entrance this year! The reason is that Porsche’s sports car model character appears in the new series.

Niantic, known for Pokemon GO, held an activation using the garden part of the food court called Fareground. By reading the QR code installed on the premises, AR with different tastes will be displayed on your smartphone, and you can share the original movie and experience the game. One of the features of SXSW is that you can have a lot of real on-site experiences.

DELL Computer rents out the annual event venue and holds a party from the first day. In addition to live music by the band, free food and free drinks are served. Conference sessions produced by the company are also held at the same venue. We provide a place for people to interact through music. Branding as a DELL company born here in Austin is being developed.

Paramount Theater was the main venue for SXSW film screenings. On the first day, the opening film was screened, the red carpet was set up as usual, and in addition to many celebrities, there were many people involved in the actual film production, and the atmosphere was just like a reunion. Many of the films to be screened are noteworthy, and many have been nominated for Academy Awards. Notable works are subject to entry restrictions due to a sudden death, and there are many people waiting for cancellations and queues, and movie theaters scattered throughout Austin are so prosperous that there is no end to the gathering of people during the exhibition.

There are so many people this year that it can be said to be a full-fledged revival. Expectations can be felt from the lively SXSW2023 venue. It can be said that SXSW is characterized by the fact that the events held in the city and the attributes of the people who participate in them change rapidly during the period of the “Interactive” category, the “Film+TV” category, and the “Music” category. We can expect some changes in the second half.

In the middle of the exhibition, there was also a VR content exhibition. Last year, you could enjoy VR content online, but this year you can’t experience it unless you go to the venue (that’s what the organizers are aiming for). I would like to report on the situation at a later date.