SXSW Sydney 2024 has finished for the year and what a week it was. For those who may not be aware of what SXSW Sydney is, allow me to explain! SXSW stands for “South By Southwest” and it is an annual festival that takes place in Austin, Texas and celebrates film, interactive media, and music. It is an event that is filled with many industry talks, mixers and showcases to celebrate the selected media. As of last year, SXSW made its debut in Sydney, Australia, to celebrate local media with the addition of Game Development! With a focus on cultural exchange and networking, SXSW Sydney fosters an environment of inspiration and innovation, featuring keynote speakers, panel discussions, and live performances that highlight the latest trends and emerging talents in the creative sector of Australia. What they also didn’t expect was the Games Festival sector of SXSW Sydney to be such a success, and some say it had the best response out of the different industries, which is why they brought it back for the second year of the event in Sydney!I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend SXSW Sydney both last year and this year and I was super excited to see what had changed/developed over the two years. In this article, I will give a brief overview of most things I got to check out while I was at the event!
What to see and how to get around! With the festival expanding across the Sydney CBD, there were plenty of things to see and do! As a guest you could dive into insightful panels with industry experts, witness inspiring performances, explore new waves of technology and innovation. Each industry had certain buildings and areas dedicated to them and with the help of the SXSW Sydney app and schedule, it wasn’t too difficult to line up interesting events to attend and be notified when they were about to happen!
There were however, different tickets and passes to access the event. The highest priority and most expensive badge, the Platinum Badge (RRP: $1,995) gave access to everything that SXSW Sydney could offer, and would also give first admittance to showcases and conferences. Next, the Industry Badges (RRP: $1,295) were specific to the Industry you were looking at attending and gave first priority alongside Platinum to the Industry events (eg. Tech Badges get first priority alongside Platinum, to the Tech & Innovation Expo). The Industry badges did also have secondary access to other Industry events, so as a Games Badge holder, I could still participate in a Music Industry event! The next tier was a Weekend Tech & Innovation Pass (RRP: $295) which was the same access as the normal Tech Industry Badges, just for less time and lastly there were Industry Wristbands (RRP: $140), One-Day Tech & Innovation Tickets (RRP: $40) and Screen Rush Tickets (RRP: $25). Screen Rush tickets allowed attendees to go to one screening of their choosing!
Tumbalong Park Tumbalong Park is the park in Darling Harbour, located outside the International Convention Centre (ICC), near Dancer’s Alley. SXSW Sydney utilizes Tumbalong Park and surrounding areas each year, to showcase partnered company displays, and a lot of them are free to the general public too! The “free events hub” was home to the Suntory Minus196 Vending Machine, the Commbank House, Papa Salt, Intuit Mailchimp’s “email is dead” presentation and The Ideas Dome by the Growth Distillery. Each company building held some sort of tech immersive experience to get the general public involved and possibly pique the interest of potential participants for the future! I was able to check out the Suntory Vending machine, which included a QR code quiz to scan on the way in and fun questions to answer with clues on each floor. It also included quite a few photo opportunities inside and a rooftop bar, in case you need a Minus196 to quench your thirst! The CommBank house simulated a small escape room and Intuit Mailchimp’s pop-up building showcased emails sent throughout time that made a significant difference in someone’s life or was just entertaining. As a guest, I found it refreshing to see how technology was seamlessly integrated into the experience and it was nice that these innovations were accessible to the general public. Alongside Tumbalong Park, there were a few other displays and experiences throughout Darling Harbour such as the SXSW Merch booth, HP booth near the harbour and Amazon Prime’s Primeville Sweet Spot Experience located at Fratelli Fresh in Darling Square.
Panels One of the most anticipated features of the SXSW Sydney conference was the panels and industry talks! Speakers from all over the globe made the journey to Australia to take part in discussions about the future of Tech and Innovation. Most of the panels took place at the ICC and would feature visionary business leaders who are challenging the status quo, and creating groundbreaking innovations that are paving the way for the future. These panels would allow guests to engage in conversations that push the limits of possibility and give insight to any questions viewers may want answered.
I attended several panels, and one particularly stood out to me: it focused on the live-streaming platform Twitch. The discussion explored the unique journeys of different streamers, highlighting the diverse challenges they face along the way. The Panel was called “Learn what it's like to stream on Twitch with Twitch CEO Dan Clancy and streamers /jackhuddo, /kwoli and /hayzee” and each speaker gave insight on their own personal journey through twitch, whether they pursue content creation as a full-time career, and how they evaluate whether it is a sustainable way to obtain income. The panel itself was very informative and as someone who is not new to the Twitch App, it was super interesting to see how other streamers approach streaming differently.
Tech and Innovation Expo
The Tech & Innovation conference at SXSW Sydney covered a diverse range of essential topics that are supposed to be shaping our future. Badgeholders with access to the expo could engage in sessions focused on themes such as AI and robotics, cybersecurity, health and MedTech, fintech, startups, and the metaverse. Industry leaders had booths that displayed their tech and shared their insights on these trends, providing a comprehensive overview of the evolving tech environment.
Featuring over 60 exhibitors, the Tech and Innovation expo showcased “cutting-edge” products and interactive installations over four days. Certain areas or “specialized zones” within the Expo provided opportunities for the attendees to explore groundbreaking XR experiences and discover initiatives aimed at social impact, health, education, and entertainment.
AI was a bit of a Hype word for this year’s Tech & Innovation expo. Almost every company that had a booth, had some sort of link to check out their AI projects and showcase how AI improves their tech and processes. As a lot of the AI was based around Generative AI, I was quite skeptical, but in the right hands, I believe AI can be a very important and useful tool in developing future technology (as long as it’s done ethically and isn’t ripping off artists).
Distinct areas of the Expo that also stood out to me were the VR gaming, Virtual Barista where you could order a coffee, the Aussie Broadband backyard and their snags, Free Tattoos at the Laser Removal Booth and the Tech Expo Balcony, where electric-car brand Zeekr were taking guests for test drives in some of their new car models. (No I unfortunately didn’t get to eat a snag, but yes, I got a free tattoo and yes, it's permanent).
I noticed there seemed to be fewer exhibitors this year compared to the first SXSW Sydney, but there were still some fascinating booths. I’m hopeful that next year will be even better! It’s also exciting to think about how much technology will evolve in just a year.
Games Festival Games were the main reason I was at SXSW Sydney! As a gaming creator and someone who has been interested in playing and even developing games, it was the industry that I was most excited to check out. The Games Festival side of SXSW had only a few key events but they did span over the week, so you could line up certain days to check out specific areas, if your schedule overlapped with other events. Games Week started a day later than most other industries, beginning on the Wednesday instead of the Tuesday, and it opened with Ceremony hosted at the Abercrombie Hotel, to welcome Games Industry guests and introduce some of the games. Fortress was also once again home to a lot of the Games celebrations such as some themed game showcase events and Industry Mixers/Happy Hours for guests to sit, have a few drinks and mingle with developers. Fortress also hosted the Games Festival Awards, which wrapped up the Games sector by recognizing developers for their outstanding creations and shining a spotlight on their games. The main event though, was the Games Showcase, which featured over 120 games in the Grand hall of UTS. But this showcase is more than just an exhibition; it’s a celebration of the creativity and innovation that fuels the gaming industry. Designed to highlight new and emerging talent, the SXSW Sydney Games Showcase allows developers to share their groundbreaking work with a now-global audience.
As the Grand Hall was not big enough to fit all 120 games, the exhibitors would showcase their demos in certain rotations, so each game could get a moment in the spotlight. These rotations were also themed, so attendees had the chance to explore certain games in the hall at different times, and this was shown on the scheduling app. Themes included Delicious Gaming (food-based games), a Student Showcase, APAC highlights, Spooky gaming, Cozy gaming, Tabletop and more! When the tabletop games had a chance to be showcased, they were situated outside the Great Hall in the Multifunction space, and it also included a Magic: The Gathering learning area (which is where I spent a lot of my Sunday).
If you would like to check out the games that were showcased, you can find the full list of exhibitors here on the SXSW Sydney website: https://schedule.sxswsydney.com/line-up?track=games
Music Festival
As I had a Games Badge, I could get secondary access to both Film and Music at SXSW Sydney if I wanted to. Although I hadn’t had the chance to attend much of the Music and Film Festival sides, I did get to take a peek at a few small events. Tumbalong Park featured a main stage that hosted numerous musical performances throughout the week. While attending showcases at the ICC and Tumbalong Park, I made it a point to pause and enjoy the music whenever I could!
The Underground at UTS Building 1 was also a small hub for Musical performances for SXSW Sydney and the performances were hosted by Rolling Stone! If you haven’t been, the Underground has a small stage situated inside, with a bar and some seating scattered around the venue. American Apparel, being one of the sponsors for the music festival, also had a booth set up where you could choose your t-shirt size and get some designs pressed, so you had a small souvenir to take home! When I got the chance to make an appearanceI also had the chance to attend a small PR mixer at the Loft, located just above the underground and had the chance to listen to a speaker discuss venues for performers and how to approach agencies to network and establish meaningful relationships within the industry.
The Music festival also had some pretty big headline speakers such as Jorja Smith, Lucy Dickins and The Kid Laroi, who took part in panels, networking events and even gave performances!
As someone who is not quite immersed in the Music Industry Scene, I feel as if I can’t really do it justice but as SXSW Sydney themselves said “Whether you’re an artist destined to break out, an exec keen to unearth new talent, or a music lover who wants to hear them first, this is an unmissable week”.
Screen Festival Unfortunately, I have even less to say on the Screen Festival, as it was the industry side that I attended the least. This doesn’t mean that I have nothing to discuss though! The Film showcases improved greatly from last year, as for the first SXSW Sydney event, a lot of the Film presentations had to be canceled due to unforeseen weather conditions, and luckily that wasn’t the case this year! The Screen Festival had three main events.Feature Films; first screenings of some of the most hotly anticipated films, the Student Showcase; spotlighting young and emerging local APAC talent, and the XR showcase; story retellings through the immersive extended reality experience. Quite a lot of the Screen speakers and attendees were international guests debuting their films and making appearances at the industry talks and panels. One of the most exciting guests that came to sydney (for me, at least) was Lucy Lawless, most known for portraying Xena in Xena: Warrior Princess and she was here to make her directorial debut with Never Look Away, a documentary film about the extraordinary life of CNN camerawoman, Margaret Moth. The Screen Festival concluded with a joint awards ceremony alongside the Games Festival, which took place at Fortress Sydney. Although I didn’t get to see a lot of the films, I did get to celebrate the winners at the show! If you're interested in viewing the winning films, here are the award recipients: Best Feature Film: A Grand Mockery, Directed by Sam Dixon & Adam C. Briggs Best Short Film: Fishtank, Directed by Wendi Tang AND Try to Remember, Please, Directed by Maria Dudko.
Best Music Video: ‘Pillhouse’ Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Directed by Ollie Jones
Best Episodic: Thou Shalt Not Steal, Directed by Dylan River
Best Student Film: Ruby and Tom Take a Cake to a Wedding, Directed by Jack McTaggart.
You can also find more information on each individual participating film here on the SXSW Sydney website: https://www.sxswsydney.com/sxsw-2024/screen-showcase
As someone who actually currently works within the film and TV industry, I hope to be able to delegate time in my SXSW Sydney schedule next year, so I can immerse myself more within the industry and try to discover some up and coming films!
To Sum it all up!
In conclusion, SXSW Sydney is a must-attend event for creators and professionals seeking to shape and discover future trends, emerging technology, and access unrivaled networking opportunities. The energy was palpable as attendees, myself included, left the festival buzzing with inspiration and new connections. I had the chance to dive into so many incredible experiences throughout the festival. From thought-provoking panels on technology to the vibrant Tech & Innovation Expo with its interactive exhibits, there was never a dull moment. With all these leading-edge technologies and diverse cultural exhibits on display, it was clear that SXSW Sydney not only enriched the local creative scene but also positioned itself as a must-visit destination for future events.
If you missed out this year, don’t worry there will always be next year and a few more after that, as SXSW Sydney has signed a 10 year deal to return to Sydney! Meaning we will be hosting SXSW until 2032 at the very least! Hopefully by the time the festival comes around again next year, I will also be able to assist you all with some tips and tricks to get through the hectic week and perhaps I will see you there!
Gives all the information \o/ !!!!! Great article Ellie 😸