SXSW goes down under with first-ever SXSW Sydney starting this weekend

After almost four decades in Austin, the South by Southwest Conference is finally ready to go worldwide. SXSW Sydney kicks off this weekend from the capital of New South Wales in Australia.

Announced all the way back in June 2022, it marks the first time in 36 years that the music, film, education, and technology conference will be held outside the United States. Here is everything you need to know.

The inaugural SXSW Sydney conference will be held from October 15-23, 2023. Film will run from October 15-21. The music portion will be held from October 18-22. SXSW Games will also be held from October 18-22.

SXSW Sydney is an expansion of the SXSW conference, held for the first time in 1987 in Austin, Texas. It is a collaboration between SXSW, entertainment company TEG, the New South Wales government, and state tourism division Destination NSW.

Per the initial press release, this is the first annual Asian Pacific version of SXSW, meaning that other international versions of SXSW could be on the horizon.

The more than 600 speakers include Academy Award-nominated actress Naomi Watts, Grammy Award-winner Chance the Rapper, Academy Award-winner Nicole Kidman, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, Reddit Chief Marketing Officer Roxy Young, Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett, and Queer Eye’s Tan France.

Musicians like Alter Boy, the Terrys, Jacqui, Los Bitchos, Squid the Kid, and Gold Fang will perform during the music portion of the conference, from October 18-22.

Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs will premiere at SXSW Sydney alongside a restoration of Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, plus screenings of Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, and many more films.

And, because this is SXSW, there will be all sorts of technology exhibits, including an AI vending machine, a flying race car simulator, and a presentation from Australian airline Qantas, featuring what it calls a jetlag-free airline cabin.

SXSW Sydney will be held in Central Sydney. The conference is meant to be walkable, with events held in Haymarket, Darling Harbour, Ultimo, and other neighborhoods of the city. The organizers will utilize local museums, bars, and more public spaces in Sydney for the conference.

It appears that SXSW Sydney will not have an online component, per the conference’s FAQ site. “SXSW Sydney 2023 will be a completely live event,” it reads. Folks looking to catch SXSW Sydney, at least for the inaugural edition, will have to make the trek to Australia to take part in the festivities.