South by Southwest Pageant (SXSW) organizers are reportedly slicing again on the music portion of the annual occasion.
In response to the Austin American-Statesman, it will outcome within the 2026 version of the competition being two days shorter than this 12 months’s, which ran March 7-15. Subsequent 12 months’s version is ready for March 12-18. The transfer eliminates the weekend historically devoted to music performances and a convention for the primary time in SXSW historical past.
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The information comes simply after the top of the 2025 version, which wrapped Saturday. Participation within the music competition has reportedly been dropping because the 2010s, when the typical band rely peaked at round 2,000. This 12 months’s version reportedly noticed 1,012 bands showcasing.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Penske Media for remark. Penske Media, the proprietor of THR, invested in SXSW in April 2021 as a part of what it described as a long-term partnership with the competition.
Lately, the movie and tv competition has turn out to be an even bigger a part of SXSW, this 12 months drawing the likes of Michelle Obama (who recorded a podcast together with her brother, faculty basketball coach Craig Robinson) and Chelsea Clinton. Nicole Kidman, Paul Rudd, Blake Full of life, Anna Kendrick, Issa Rae, Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and Seth Rogen had been among the many stars readily available on the premieres of their respective movie and TV tasks.
In the meantime, musical artists taking part in this 12 months’s occasion included John Fogerty, Tom Morello, Benson Boone, Khalid, Larkin Poe, Koe Wetzel, George Birge, Ashley Cooke, Brittney Spencer, Aiko, Large Freedia and Jurassic 5 rapper Soup.
The Austin American-Statesman famous that “nation breakout Megan Moroney and Latin pop up-and-comer Ivan Cornejo performed tremendous units, however they didn’t fill the cavernous live performance corridor ACL Stay, even with a free public RSVP.”
Native music journalist Andy Langer, a veteran of the competition since its launch in 1987, wrote in a much-shared Fb publish, “For years, it’s been inconceivable to not discover how parking woes, lodge costs, site visitors and many others. drop off significantly when SXSW Music begins. The city empties out significantly the Wednesday AM after tech/movie ends.”
In the meantime, the occasion shall be briefly displaced subsequent 12 months, because the Austin Conference Heart — dwelling to SXSW — is being renovated. It’s going to shut in April for 4 years, with the competition going down at numerous areas round city for the following few editions.
PMC can be rising SXSW’s presence world wide. The corporate expanded to Australia in 2023 and heads to London for the primary time in June.
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